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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

Ex  Libris 

Katharine  F.  Richmond 

and 
Henry  C.  Fall 


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MR.  DOW'S 


HAMPTON. 


HISTORICAL  ADDRESS, 


DELIVERED  AT   HAMPTON,   NEW -HAMPSHIRE, 


ON  THE  25th  OF  DECEMBER, 


1838, 


IN    COMMEMORATION    OF  THE    SETTLEMENT  OF  THAT    TOWN 


HAVING    ELAPSED    SINCE    THAT    EVENT. 


BY 
JOSEPH  DOW,  A.  M. 


PUBLISHED      BY      REQUEST. 


PRINTED    BY    ASA    McFARLAND, 

(Opposite  the  State  Haute.) 


OBITUARY. 

d,  I  (*. 

Jowrph     Dow. 

Mr.  Joseph  I>ow,  the  well-known  historian  of 

..  in  Hampton  April  12,  1807 

-ons  of  Josiah   and   Han- 

• srendant  of 

in   tho   provincial 

'•lr.  How  was  grad- 

'  'ollogo  in  1833.  ta  salut- 

iss.      Anion*   his    classmates 

_•'•  Asa  Fowler  of  Concord.  l>r. 

-liua,  Hon.  Jainea  F.  Joy 

L  !>..  and  oilier   men   of 

mark.  ;i    leaving    collcRe     Mr 

cf    reinbroke    'N     H 

Acadei;  alned  four  years,   when 

•  ike  rhanro  of  (iardincr   (Mo  ) 

,:en    cnmo    the    financial  panic   of 

\vlng  year    the   school   went 

down  in  the  general  crash.      Subsequently,   Mr. 

I>nw  tausrht  the  academies  in  Hast  Machia».  Me.. 

I'ompey,  N.  Y..  and  elsewhere,  hut  retired  from 

teaching  in  1802,  and  settled  permanently  in  his 

Major's  commission 

11  in  1837. 

Durintr  his  professional  life  befitted   for  ml. 

)e?e  many  young  men  who  became  eminent. 

v's  tastes  were  always  literary,  and  more 

.  ;id  of  historic  lore, 

•  rod  in   his  mind. 

While  still  a  young  man  his  attention  was 
turned  to  tho  history  of  his  own  Btate  and  town. 
On  the  two  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  settle- 
ment of  the  latter  he  delivered  tho  historical 
address,  which  was  published.  He  lias  since 
written  a  history  of  Hampton,  which  now  lies 
in  manuscript,  awaiting  a  favorable  opportu- 
nity for  publication.  Genealogy  has  been  a 
favorite  branch  of  his  studies,  and  he  has  long 
rity  in  the  tracing  of  ances- 
tries. Ho  was  elected  a  corresponding  member 
of  tho  New  England  Historic  (tenealogi--  . 
ety  in  I  ir  of  its  incorporation,  was  a 

ir  Hampshire  HUtoriocJ  Soci- 
ety T.  ';0. 

•  14th  of  April.  is.'iS.  Mr.  Dow  wa»  mar- 
ried   to    Abby,     daughter    of    Rev.     Jonathan 
1 1.  !>..  of  North    Hampton.  N.  H..  a  lady 
of  rare  worti:  They  had 

iva 

In  early  life  it  w.i  intention  tostudy 

.   (-in  :n»N'  hing  as  his 

ng  his  career  ho  has  done  a 

largo  ft;  •<•  and  other  legal  busi- 

neesw    He  was  In  commission  as  a  Justice  of  the. 

Peace  from  In4oto  1887.   more  than  half  that 

time  being  of  the   peace  and   quorum   of  the 

>nstltu- 

In    local   public 
affairs  Mr  I>  >w  has  always  I 
till  prevents  I  by  reason  of  age.    He  ha>  been  a 

•i    sinre 
.  for  21  ynar«. 


ve  probate  business,  in 
•  xtatea.    as 
arbiter,    in    all     business     transnctinnn    and   as 

•»  friends  r. 
'••  without  I4*n; 


ADDRESS. 


As  in  the  life  of  every  individual,  so  likewise  in  the  history  of 
every  community,  there  are  seasons  of  more  than  ordinary  in- 
terest. There  are  occasions, ^vwere-  not  only  individuals,  but 
whole  communities,  are  forcibly  reminded  of  the  rapid  flight  of 
time,  and  of  the  changes  effected  in  a  series  of  years.  These 
changes  are  not  confined  to  any  one  class  of  objects.  They 
may  be  predicted  of  almost  every  thing  around  us.  Many  of 
them  are  so  gradual,  that,  when  viewed  in  relation  to  two  suc- 
cessive days,  they  are  wholly  imperceptible ;  but  they  are,  on 
this  account,  no  less  real.  The  countenance  of  a  friend,  whom 
we  see  every  day,  appears  to  undergo  but  little  alteration  while 
he  is  in  health ;  but  let  us  meet  him  after  an  absence  of  several 
years,  and  the  change,  though  no  greater  than  before,  is  very 
apparent. 

On  one  of  those  interesting  occasions,  when  our  thoughts  are 
busy  with  the  past,  and  when  they  also  run  forward  to  scan  the 
events  of  futurity,  we  have  this  day  assembled.  Two  hundred 
years  have  passed  away  since  the  settlement  of  our  town  was 
commenced,  and  the  church  that  worships  in  this  house,  organ- 
ized. Our  thoughts  revert  to  that  period,  and,  in  our  imagina- 
tions, we  hear  the  forests  of  Winnicumet,  echoing,  for  the  first 
time,  with  the  sounds  of  civilized  life.  In  the  character  and 
the  fortunes  of  the  little  band  that  then  came  hither,  we  feel  a 
deep  interest,  for  they  were  our  ancestors. 

My  object  in  the  follwing  remarks,  will  be,  to  give  a  brief  ac- 
count of  the  settlement  of  the  town ;  to  notice  some  of  the 
more  important  transactions  of  the  people,  in  the  infancy  of  the 
settlement ;  to  exhibit,  however  imperfectly,  their  trials,  dangers, 


'1 OS6311 


and  sufferings ;  and  then  to  trace,  in  a  cursory  manner,  the  his- 
tory of  the  first  church,  through  a  period  of  two  centuries. 

The  first  permanent  settlement  in  New-England  was  made 
near  the  close  of  the  year  1620. 

On  the  10th  day  of  August,  1622,  a  grant  was  made,  by  the 
Council  of  Plymouth,  to  Sir  Ferdinando  Gorges,  and  Captain 
John  Mason,  Jointly,  of  all  the  land  lying  between  the  rivers 
Merrimack  aS&agadehock,  now  the  Androscoggin, — extending 
back  to  the  great  lakes  and  the  river  of  Canada.  This  tract 
was  called  Laconia,  and  it  was  the  first  grant  in  which  the  ter- 
ritory of  Hampton  was  included. 

The  next  year  a  settlement  was  commenced  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Piscataqua,  and  another  further  up  the  river,  at  the  place 
which  subsequently  received  the  name  of  Dover. 

The  principal  object  in  the  formation  of  these  settlements, 
both  of  which  were  commenced  under  the  patronage  of  Gorges, 
Mason,  and  several  English  merchants,  styled  the  "  Company 
of  Laconia,"  was  to  carry  on  the  fishing  business,  which,  it  was 
thought,  would  prove  very  lucrative. 

May  17,  1629,  a  Deed  is  said  to  have  been  given  by  certain 
Indian  chiefs,  assembled  at  Swamscot  falls,  now  Exeter,  to  Rev. 
John  Whelewright  and  others,  conveying  to  them,  for  what  was 
deemed  an  equivalent,  all  the  land  along  the  coast,  between  the 
Merrimack  and  the  Piscataqua  rivers,  and  extending  back  to  a 
considerable  distance  into  the  country.  In  this  tract  our  own 
territory  was  evidently  embraced. 

Recently,  however,  the  authenticity  of  this  Deed  has  been 
denied,  though  it  is  admitted  that  Whelewright,  several  years 
afterwards,  purchased  of  the  Indians  all  the  land  lying  within 
a  considerable  distance  of  Swamscot  falls.  A  similar  course 
was  probably  pursued  by  those  who  formed  the  first  settlement 
in  this  place. 

On  the  7th  day  of  November,  1629,  the  Council  of  Ply- 
mouth made  a  new  grant  to  Captain  Mason,  of  a  tract  of  land 
"  from  the  middle  of  Piscataqua  river,  and  up  the  same  to  the 
'  farthest  head  thereof,  and  from  thence  north-westward,  until 
'  sixty  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  harbor  were  finished  ;  also 


'  through  Merrimack  river,  to  the  farthest  head  thereof,  and  so 
'  forward  up  into  the  land  westward,  until  sixty  miles  were  fin- 
'  ished ;  and  from  thence  to  cross  over  land  to  the  end  of  the 
'  sixty  miles  as  counted  from  Piscataqua  river  ;  together  with  all 
'islands  within  five  leagues  of  the  coast."  This  tract  was  call- 
ed New-Hampshire,  and  it  included  the  whole  of  Whelewright's 
purchase,  if  such  a  purchase  was  ever  made,  and  a  part  of  the 
land  previously  granted  to  Massachusetts,  as  by  the  charter  of 
that  colony  its  territory  extended  three  miles  north  of  the  Mer- 
rimack. 

By  other  arrangements,  made  in  1630  and  1631,  the  settle- 
ments on  the  Piscataqua  were  divided  into  two  parts,  called  the 
upper  and  the  lower  plantations.  Captain  Thomas  Wiggen  was 
appointed  agent  for  the  former,  and  Captain  Walter  Neal  for  the 
latter,  which  extended  as  far  south  as  the  stream  called  Little 
river,  in  the  eastern  part  of  North-Hampton. 

In  1633  these  two  agents  united  in  surveying  their  respective 
patents,  and  in  laying  out  the  towns  of  Portsmouth,  Northam, 
afterwards  called  Dover — and  Hampton  ;  though  no  settlement 
had  at  that  time  been  made  at  the  place  last  mentioned. 

Dr.  Belknap  says,  that  this  survey  was  made  by  order  of  the 
company  of  Laconia,  and  that  these  towns,  together  with  Exeter, 
were  named  by  that  company.  Hampton  was,  however,  incor- 
porated by  its  present  name  at  the  request  of  the  first  pastor  of 
the  church  established  here.  Whether  he  chose  the  name  in 
conformity  to  the  wishes  of  the  company  of  Laconia,  I  cannot 
tell. 

I  have  been  thus  particular  in  noticing  the  different  grants 
that  were  made  of  the  same  territory,  as  they  gave  rise  to  much 
subsequent  litigation  and  expense,  by  which  this  town,  as  well 
as  others,  was  exceedingly  harassed. 

In  1636  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  authorized  two 
persons,  Mr.  Dummer  and  Mr.  Spencer,  to  erect  a  house  at  Hamp- 
ton, which  was  then  called  by  its  Indian  name,  Winnicumet.  A 
house  was  accordingly  built  by  Nicholas  Easton,  under  the  di- 
rection of  the  two  persons  just  mentioned,  and  at  the  expense 
of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts.  This  house  was  called  the 


Bound  House,  although,  as  Dr.  Bclknap  observes,  it  was  intend- 
ed as  a  mark  of  possession  rather  than  of  limit. 

There  is  no  evidence  that  a  settlement  was  actually  made 
here,  till  two  years  afterwards.  For  what  purpose,  then,  was 
the  Bound  House  erected  ? 

The  General  Court  had  learned,  that  there  were  in  this 
vicinity  extensive  s:ilt-marshes.  These  must,  at  that  time,  have 
been  very  valuable,  as  the  upland  had  not  been  brought  to  such 
a  state  of  cultivation  as  to  afford  a  sufficient  quantity  of  hay  to 
winter  the  stock  which  might  be  kept  through  the  summer. 
The  court  wished  to  secure  these  marshes,  and,  by  causing  a 
house  to  be  erected  near  them,  at  the  expense  of  the  Colony, 
they  virtually  claimed  jurisdiction  over  them.  It  was,  perhaps, 
for  the  purpose  of  asserting  such  a  jurisdiction,  that  they  adopt- 
ed this  measure. 

On  what  grounds  could  the  General  Court  claim  jurisdiction 
here  ?  The  chartered  limits  of  Massachusetts  extended  only 
three  miles  north  of  the  Merrimack  ;  but  the  Bound  House  was 
probably  much  farther  from  that  river. 

That  they  did  set  up  such  a  claim,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that 
they  soon  after  made  a  formal  grant  of  the  territory  to  the  com- 
pany that  actually  formed  a  settlement  here. 

By  a  plain,  natural  construction  of  the  meaning  of  their  char- 
ter, this  place  was,  undoubtedly,  beyond  their  limits,  while  it 
was  evidently  included  in  the  grant  made  to  Captain  Mason. 
The  charters,  however,  that  were  given  by  the  Council  of  Ply- 
mouth, and  also  those  granted  by  the  Crown,  were  often  worded 
with  too  little  care.  Sometimes,  unquestionably,  this  arose  from 
a  want  of  sufficient  geographical  information  concerning  the 
portions  of  country  granted,  and,  at  other  times,  from  sheer 
carelessness. 

In  this  case,  the  grant  to  Massachusetts  was  of  land  reach- 
ing to  "  three  miles  north  of  the  Merrimack  river,  and  of  every 
part  of  it."  Now,  though  that  river  is  more  than  three  miles 
south  of  this  place,  yet,  if  we  trace  it  up  to  its  source,  we  shall 
find,  that  it  rises  much  farther  to  the  north  than  we  are,  and 
Massachusetts  claimed  the  land  to  <MK  east  and  west  line,  pass- 


ing  through  a  point  three  miles  north  of  the  most  northerly  part 
of  the  river. 

Such  a  construction  of  their  charter  would  give  the  people 
of  that  Colony  all  the  land  granted  to  Mason,  and  a  large  part 
of  Maine,  which  had  been  granted  to  Gorges  ;  thus  rendering 
the  claims  of  these  two  gentlemen  null  and  void,  as  the  grants 
to  them  were  made  after  that  to  Massachusetts. 

The  agent  of  Mason's  estate  made  some  objections  to  the 
claims  and  the  proceedings  of  Massachusetts,  yet  no  legal 
method  was  taken  to  controvert  this  extension  of  their  claim  ; 
and,  as  the  historian  of  New-Hampshire  very  justly  observes, 
"  the  way  was  prepared  for  one  still  greater,  which  many  cir- 
cumstances concurred  to  establish." 

In  1638  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  General  Court  of 
Massachusetts,  by  a  number  of  people,  chiefly  from  Norfolk  in 
England,  praying  for  permission  to  settle  at  Winnicumet.  On  (/J 
the  7th  of  October  their  request  was  granted.  Few  privi- 
leges, however,  were  allowed  besides  that  of  forming  a  settle- 
ment. In  the  language  of  the  early  records  of  our  town,  "  the 
power  of  managing  the  affairs  thereof  was  not  then  yielded  to 
them,  but  committed  by  the  court  to"  three  gentlemen,  not  be- 
longing to  the  settlement,  "  so  as  nothing  might  be  done  with- 
out the  allowance  of  them,  or  two  of  them."  * 

It  was  not  till  the  7th  of  June,  1639,  that  the  plantation  was 
allowed  to  be  a  town,  and  to  choose  a  constable  and  other 
officers,  and,  as  our  records  state,  "  to  make  orders  for  the  well 
ordering  of  the  town,  and  to  send  a  deputy  to  the  court."  Even 
then  the  power  of  laying  out  land  was  not  granted  to  the  town, 
but  was  left  to  the  three  gentlemen  to  whom  I  have  already  al- 
luded. 

At  that  time  three  men  belonging  to  the  town,  viz.  Christo- 
pher Hussey, William  Palmer,  and  Richard  Swaine,were  appoint- 
ed  by  the  General  Court,  as  commissioners,  or  justices,  to  have 
jurisdiction  over  all  causes  of  twenty  shillings,  or  under. 

*John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  and  Mr.  Rawson — probably  Edward  Rawson — 
were  two  of  this  committee.  The  name  of  the  other  is  gone  from  the 
records  of  the  town. 


8 

On  the  4th  day  of  September,  in  the  same  year,  at  the  re- 
quest of  Rev.  Stephen  Bachelor,  the  name  of  the  town  was 

ange(l  from  Winnicumet  to  Hampton,  and  about  the  same 
time,  through  the  influence  of  their  deputy,  the  right  of  dis- 
posing of  the  land,  and  laying  it  out,  was  vested  in  the  town. 

The  number  of  the  original  settlers  was  fifty-six.  Rev.  Dr. 
Appleton,  in  his  dedication  sermon, preached  in  1797,  says,  "of 
the  names  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hampton,  only  sixteen  are 
transmitted  to  us  ;  and  but  four  of  these  names  continue  in  the 
place."*  The  same  four  names  are  still  found  among  us,  though 
one  of  them  will  probably  soon  become  extinct,  as  it  is  now 
borne  by  only  two  individuals,  both  of  them  aged  females. 

The  names  of  the  sixteen  persons  referred  to  by  Dr.  Apple- 
ton  are  given  in  the  first  volume  of  Belknap's  History  of  New- 
Hampshire.  In  that  list  the  name  of  only  one  female  is  found, 
and  it  is  probable  that  most  of  the  other  settlers  were  members 
of  the  families  of  these  sixteen. 

Though  the  number  of  settlers  was  at  first  only  fifty-six,  yet 
large  additions  were  soon  made.  At  the  time  when  the  settle- 
ment became  a  town,  the  number  of  inhabitants  had  very  much 
increased.  Indeed,  a  writer  who  lived  and  wrote  about  that 
time,  says  that  in  1639  there  were  about  sixty  families 
here.t  It  has  been  supposed  that  this  writer  stated  the  num- 
ber larger  than  it  really  was.  There  are,  however,  reasons  for 
believing  that  his  statement  is  not  far  from  the  truth.  In  the 
record  of  the  proceedings  at  a  town  meeting,  early  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  more  than  sixty  individuals  are  mentioned  ;  and  it 
in  probable,  from  the  great  diversity  of  their  names,  that  they 
belonged  to  nearly  as  many  different  families. 

The  historian  of  New-Hampshire  says,  that  the  people  here 
began  the  settlement  by  laying  out  the  township  into  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-seven  shares.  Others,  relying  upon  him  as  author- 
ity, have  repeated  the  statement.  Our  records,  however,  fur- 
nish an  abundance  of  evidence  that  it  is  incorrect;  and  had  Dr. 
Belknap,  in  this  instance,  exercised  his  usual  caution,  he  would 
not  have  been  led  into  such  an  error.  The  transaction  which 

'See  Appendix,  A.  »  See  Appendix,  B 


probably  gave  rise  to  this  remark,  did  not  occur  till  more  than 
seven  years  after  the  settlement  was  commenced,  and,  even  at 
that  time,  there  was  a  division  of  only  a  small  portion  of  the 
land  within  the  limits  of  the  township. 

The  course  the  people  really  pursued  was  far  different  from 
that  which  has  so  often  been  imputed  to  them.  Soon  after  they 
were  allowed  the  privileges  of  freemen,  they  began  to  exercise 
them.  The  first  town  meeting,  of  which  any  record  remains, 
was  held  October  31,  1639.  William  Wakefield  was  chosen 
town  clerk.  The  freemen,  instead  of  proceeding  to  lay  out 
the  township  into  any  definite  number  of  shares,  appointed  a 
committee,  whose*  duty  it  should  be,  for  the  space  of  one  year, 
"  to  measure,  lay  forth,  and  bound  all  such  lots  as  should  be 
granted  by  the  freemen  there."  The  compensation  allowed  this 
committee,  was  twelve  shillings  for  laying  out  a  house  lot,  and, 
in  ordinary  cases,  one  penny  an  acre  for  all  other  land  they 
might  survey. 

Only  one  other  article  was  acted  upon  at  this  meeting.  The 
object  of  that  was  to  secure  the  seasonable  attendance  of  the 
freemen  at  town  meetings.  A  vote  was  passed,  imposing  a  fine 
of  one  shilling  on  each  freeman,  who,  having  had  due  notice  of 
the  meeting,  should  not  be  at  the  place  designated,  within  half 
an  hour  of  the  time  appointed. 

On  other  occasions,  similar  votes  were  passed,  and  rules  were 
adopted  to  secure  order  and  regularity,  when  the  people  were 
assembled  in  town  meeting.  I  will  mention  the  substance  of 
several  regulations  made  in  1641. 

At  the  close  of  each  meeting,  a  moderator  was  to  be  chosen, 
to  preside  at  the  next  meeting. 

Every  meeting  was  to  be  opened  and  closed  with  prayer  by 
the  moderator,  unless  one  of  the  ministers  were  present,  upon 
whom  he  might  call  to  lead  in  that  exercise. 

After  the  prayer  at  the  opening  of  the  meeting,  the  names  of 
the  freemen  were  to  be  called,  and  the  absentees  noted,  by  the 
town  clerk. 

The  moderator  was  then  "  to  make   way  for  propositions"  to 
2 


10 

be  considered  at  the  meeting.  In  doing  this,  he  might  propose 
any  business  himself,  or  he  might  call  upon  others  to  mention 
subjects  to  be  acted  upon. 

When  any  person  wished  to  speak  in  the  meeting,  he  was  to 
do  it  standing,  and  having  his  head  uncovered. 

When  an  individual  was  speaking  in  an  orderly  manner,  no 
other  one  was  to  be  allowed  to  speak  without  permission  ;  and 
no  person  was  to  be  permitted  to  speak,  at  any  meeting,  more 
than  twice,  or  three  times  at  most,  on  the  same  subject. 

When  any  article  of  business  had  been  proposed,  it  was  to  be 
disposed  of  before  any  other  business  could  be  introduced. 

Penalties  were  to  be  exacted  for  every  violation  of  any  of 
:hese  rules. 

December  24,  1639,  grants  of  land,  to  the  amount  of  2,160 
acres,  were  made  to  13  persons,  in  parcels,  varying  from  eighty 
acres  to  three  hundred.  These  were  merely  grants  of  a  cer- 
tain number  of  acres,  without  determining  where  the  different 
lots  should  be  located.  The  locations  were  fixed  at  subsequent 
meetings. 

It  i.s  wortny  of  notice,  that  the  persons  who  were  regarded 
as  the  principal  men  in  the  town,  received  grants  of  the  largest 
tracts  of  land,  and  so  uniformly  was  this  the  case  in  regard  to 
those  individuals  whose  rank  is  known,  that  we  may  probably 
judge,  v.'itli  a  considerable  degree  of  accuracy,  concerning  the 
standing  of  others,  by  the  grants  made  to  them.  In  making 
the  grar^s  just  mentioned,  the  records  inform  us,  that  "  respect 
was  had,  partly  to  estates,  partly  to  charges,  and  partly  to  other 
things." 

Town  meetings  were  frequently  holden,  at  which,  in  addition 
o  the  election  of  the  necessary  town  officers,  the  making  of 
regulations  for  the  government  of  the  people,  the  laying  out  of 
highways,  and  the  transaction  of  such  business  as  ordinarily 
comes  before  town  meetings,  at  the  present  day,  the  people  by 
vote,  admitted  persons  to  enjoy  the  privileges  of  freemen,  and, 
from  time  to  time,  made  such  grants  of  land  as  they  thought 
proper. 

We  come  now  to  the  transaction,  alleged  to  have  been  a  divis- 


11 

ion  of  the  town  into  147  shares.  It  took  place  on  the  23d  of 
the  12th  month,  1645 ;  that  is,  according  to  the  method  of 
reckoning  time,  afterwards  adopted,  in  February,  1646.  At 
that  time  the  town  having  previously  disposed  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  land  that  had  been  surveyed,  agreed  to  reserve  200  acres 
to  be  disposed  of  afterwards,  and  to  divide  the  remaining  part 
of  the  commons  into  147  shares,  and  to  distribute  it  among 
persons,  most  or  all  of  whom  had  received  previous  grants. 

There  is  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  extent  that  was  intended 
to  be  given  to  this  order.  It  is  certain  that  it  was  not  designed 
to  include  all  the  land  within  the  township,  which  had  not  already 
been  disposed  of,  as  large  tracts  were  afterwards  ordered  to  be 
laid  out,  and  others  were  granted  to  individuals  at  different 
times.  The  probability  is,  that  it  was  intended  to  embrace  only 
such  parts  of  the  town  as  had  been  actually  surveyed,  but  had 
not  been  granted  to  individuals.* 

Six  years  after  this  transaction,  it  was  determined,  at  a  public 
town  meeting,  that  the  great  Ox-Common,  lying  near  the  Great 
Boar's  Head,  "  should  be  shared  to  each  man  according  as  it 
would  hold  out."  It  appears  from  the  records,  that  in  conform- 
ity to  this  order  the  common  was  divided  into  about  seventy- 
five  shares,  and  distributed  among  a  portion  of  the  people ;  most 
of  those  to  whom  any  part  was  granted,  received  one  share 
each,  though  a  few  individuals  received  two,  or  even  three  shares 
apiece. 

Four  years  afterward,  Sargent's  Island  was  appropriated  to 
the  use  of  fishermen,  for  the  purpose  of  building  stages  and 

other  things  necessary  in  curing  fish.     There  was  in  the  grant, 

p^O\//tfa 
however,  a  p*wmee,  That,  if  the   island   should   be   deserted  by 

fishermen,  it  should  still  remain  at  the  town's  disposal.  On  the 
9th  of  June,  1663,  it  was  voted  in  town  meeting,  that  the 
land  in  the  west  part  of  the  town  should  be  laid  out  to  the  amount 
of  four  thousand  acres,  extending  through  the  whole  breadth  of 
the  town  along  its  western  boundary.  Subsequently  it  was 

*  From  a  vote  of  the  town  passed  several  years^aftenvarcls,  it  appears, 
that  the  land  divided  at  this  time  was  only  the  -Lam  Common,  so  called, 
lying  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town. 


12 

determined  that  this  land  should  be  laid  out,  partly  in  shares  of 
80  acres  each,  and  partly  in  shares  of  100  acres  each. 

About  a  year  afterwards,  it  was  agreed,  that  each  one  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town,  who  would  assure  the  selectmen  that 
he  would  settle  on  these  lands  within  twelve  months,  should  be 
entitled  to  twenty  acres  for  a  house  lot. 

This  land  was  called  the  New  Plantation,  and  it  extended  from 
Salisbury  to  Exeter,  and  of  course  was  a  part  of  land  now  em- 
braced in  three  or  four  towns. 

I  have  mentioned  these  instances  of  grants  and  of  laying  out 
land,  merely  as  a  specimen  of  the  course  which  our  forefathers 
pursued.* 

When  the  settlement  was  in  its  infancy,  it  would  have  been 
very  much  exposed  to  injury  if  no  precautions  had  been  taken 
in  regard  to  receiving  inhabitants.  Mischievous  and  disorderly 
persons  might  have  come  in  and  harassed  the  settlers.  This 
was  foreseen,  and  measures  were  taken  to  prevent  it.  The  power 
of  admitting  inhabitants  and  of  granting  them  the  privileges  of 
freemen,  was  strictly  guarded.  After  the  town  was  once  organ- 
ized, none  were  admitted  from  abroad  without  the  permission 
of  the  freemen.  It  was  voted,  "  that  no  manner  of  person  should 
come  into  the  town  as  an  inhabitant,  without  the  consent  of  the 
town,  under  the  penalty  of  twenty  shillings  per  week,  unless  he 
give  satisfactory  security  to  the  town." 

On  different  occasions,  votes  were  passed  to  prohibit  the 
selectmen  from  admitting  inhabitants.  I  will  cite  several  of 
these,  nearly  in  the  words  of  the  Town  Records,  as  they  will 
serve  to  show  the  course  that  was  taken  in  regard  to  the  subject. 

The  first  vote  of  this  kind,  on  record,  is  dated  on  the  (Hh  of 
the  10th  month,  1639,  and  is  as  follows: — 

"  Liberty  is  given  to  William  Fuller  of  Ipswich,  upon  request, 
to  come  and  sit  down  here  as  a  planter  and  smith,  in  case  he 
bring  a  certificate  of  approbation  frotn  the  elders." 

"  On  the  25th  of  the  9th  month,  1654. — By  an  act  of  the 
town,  Thomas  Downes,  shoemaker,  is  admitted  an  inhabitant, 

•See  Appendix,  C. 


13 

who  is  to  make  and  mend  shoes  for  the  town,  upon  fair  and 
reasonable  terms." 

"  May  22,  1663.  Thomas  Parker,  shoemaker,  desiring  lib- 
erty to  come  into  the  town  and  follow  his  trade  of  shoemaking, 
liberty  accordingly  is  granted  him  by  the  town."  Ten  men, 
however,  dissented  from  this  vote. 

On  the  8th  of  the  10th  month,  1662,  an  order  of  the  town 
was  passed  determining  who  should  be  regarded  as  inhabitants. 
It  runs  thus : — "  It  is  acted  and  ordered,  that  henceforth  no 
'  man  shall  be  judged  an  inhabitant  in  this  town,  nor  have  power 
'  or  liberty  to  act  in  town  affairs,  or  have  privilege  of  common- 
'  age,  either  sweepage  or  feedage,  but  he  that  hath  one  share  of 
'  commonage,  at  least,  according  to  the  first  division,  and  land  to 
'  build  upon." 

The  sources  of  some  of  the  troubles  and  perplexities  of  the 
early  settlers,  will  next  claim  our  attention.  They  were  ha- 
rassed by  wild  beasts,  and  by  lawless  men.  No  wonder,  indeed, 
that  they  were  troubled  by  the  former.  Until  the  English  set- 
tlements were  formed,  the  wild  beasts  had  been  free  to  range 
the  country,  their  right  undisputed,  and  themselves  unmolested, 
except  occasionally  by  the  Indian  hunter.  It  could  hardly  be 
expected  that  they  would  tamely  yield  to  the  new  settlers,  and 
acknowledge  their  right  of  jurisdiction  over  them.  Though 
they  did  not  often  attack  the  people,  yet  they  showed  less  re- 
spect for  their  herds  and  flocks.  It  then  early  became  an  object 
with  the  people  to  destroy  such  beasts  as  were  found  to  be 
troublesome.  Perhaps  none  annoyed  them  more  than  the 
wolves  ;  and  bounties  were  offered  by  the  town,  as  an  induce- 
ment for  killing  them. 

In  January,  1645,  a  bounty  of  ten  shillings  was  offered  for 
each  wolf  that  might  be  killed  in  the  town.*  Nine  years  after- 
wards the  bounty  was  increased  to  forty  shillings.  In  1658  it 
was  raised  to  five  pounds. 

In  1663  a  bounty  of  twenty  shillings  was  likewise  offered  for 
each  bear  killed  within  the  limits  of  the  town. 

The  settlers  were  also  troubled  by  disorderly  persons.     Dep- 

*  See  Appendix,  D. 


14 

redations  were  often  made  upon  the  common  lands  owned  by 
the  town.  The  making  of  staves  appears  to  have  been  a  pro- 
fitable employment,  and  some  persons,  who  were  engaged  in  this 
business,  were  not  very  scrupulous  in  regard  to  the  means  em- 
ployed to  procure  timber.  Wherever  they  could  find  any,  that 
was  suitable  for  staves,  they  took  it,  without  inquiring  to  whom 
it  belonged.  The  very  best  of  the  timber  was  thus,  in  many 
instances,  taken  from  the  commons.  The  town  adopted  various 
expedients  to  prevent  such  acts,  but  still  depredations  continued 
to  be  committed. 

In  some  instances,  persons,  whom  the  town  had  never  admit- 
ted as  inhabitants,  settled  on  the  public  lands.  In  other  cases, 
difficulties  occurred,  and  disputes  arose,  in  consequence  of  the 
boundaries  of  the  town  not  being  well  defined.  There  were 
disputes  of  this  kind  with  Salisbury,  and  with  Portsmouth. 

The  township  extended  so  far  north  as  to  include  a  portion  of 
the  present  town  of  Rye,  and  near  the  northern  limit  several 
persons  settled  without  permission  from  the  town.  One  of  the 
most  resolute  and  stubborn  of  them  was  John  Locke,  who  set- 
tled at  Jocelyn's, — now  Locke's, — Neck.  He  was  ordered  to 
leave  the  town,  but  seems  not  to  have  regarded  the  order  ;  and 
at  length,  a  committee  was  chosen  at  a  public  town  meeting, 
to  go  and  pull  up  Locke's  fence,  and  give  him  notice  not  to 
meddle  further  with  the  town's  property.  The  difficulty  with 
him  was  not  settled  till  he,  having  expressed  a  willingness  to 
demean  himself  peaceably  as  a  citizen,  was  received  as  an  in- 
habitant, by  a  vote  of  the  town. 

In  speaking  of  the  trials  of  our  forefathers,  it  would  be  inex- 
cusable to  pass  over  in  silence  the  dangers  and  the  sufferings 
which  resulted  from  the  hostility  of  the  Indians.  It  is  uncer- 
tain how  soon  after  the  first  settlement  of  the  town  they  began 
to  manifest  their  hostility.  It  is,  however,  evident  that  it  was 
at  a  very  early  period. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1640,  the  town  passed  a  vote  in 
relation  to  a  watch-house,  appropriating  the  meeting-house  porch 
to  this  purpose,  temporarily,  till  another  could  be  procured. 
The  object  of  providing  a  watch-house  is  not,  indeed,  stated, 


15 

but  we  can  hardly  conceive  of  any  object,  unless  fears  were 
entertained  from  Indian  hostility.  That  such  was  really  the 
case  will  appear  probable,  if  we  compare  this  vote  of  the  town 
with  another  passed  several  years  afterward,  at  a  time  when  it 
is  well  known  that  most  of  the  settlements  in  this  vicinity  were 
exceedingly  harassed  by  the  Indians.  The  selectmen  were 
then  ordered  "  to  build  a  convenient  watch-house,  according  to 
law,  and  to  set  it  where  the  old  watch-house  stood,  and  to  pro- 
vide powder,  balls,  watehes,  flints,  and  what  else  the  law 
requires,  for  a  town  stock  for  the  soldiers." 

Trainings  were  also  ordered  at  an  early  period.  Our  rec- 
ords mention  one  that  was  appointed  by  the  officers  to  be  held 
on  the  18th  of  May,  1641.  Whether  military  duty  was  required 
by  the  town,  or  enjoined  by  the  government  of  Massachusetts, 
is  not  of  consequence.  In  either  case,  it  shows  that  danger 
was  apprehended  from  some  source  or  other  ;  but  whence,  except 
from  the  Indians,  could  the  early  settlers  in  this  section  of  our 
country  anticipate  danger,  which  might  be  repelled  by  force  of 
arms  ? 

On  the  8th  of  July,  1689,  a  vote  was  passed,  very  explicit,  in 
regard  to  the  town's  apprehension  of  danger  from  the  Indians. 
The  vote  is  as  follows : — "  That  all  those  who  are  willing  to 

O 

'  make  a  fortification  about  the  meeting-house,  to  secure  them- 
'  selves  and  their  families  from  the  violence  of  the  heathen,  shall 
'  have  free  liberty  to  do  it." 

A  fortification  was  accordingly  built  around  the  meeting- 
house, distinct  traces  of  which  remained  till  the  academy  was 
removed,  a  few  years  ago,  to  the  spot  it  now  occupies,  and  the 
land  around  it  ploughed.  I  believe  that,  even  now,  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  mound  may  be  seen,  just  without  the  east  side  of  the 
academy  yard. 

May  17,  1692,  it  was  voted  to  extend  the  line  of  this  fortifi- 
cation, so  as  to  enclose  more  space,  and  liberty  was  given  "to 
build  houses  in  it  according  to  custom  in  other  forts." 

At  the  same  time  it  was  voted  to  build  within  the  fort,  at  the 
town's  expense,  a  house  14  by  16  feet,  for  the  use  of  the  minis- 
ter, and  that,  when  he  made  no  use  of  it,  it  should  be  improved 
as  a  school-house. 


16 

About  a  year  previous  to  the  transaction  just  named,  "  it  was 
'  voted  that  a  committee  should  be  chosen  to  agree  with,  and  to 
'  send  out  two  men  as  scouts,  to  see  what  they  could  discover  of 
1  the  enemy,  so  long  as  they  could  go  upon  the  snow,  or  so  long 
'  as  the  neighboring  towns  sent  out." 

A  distinguished  historian  says  of  a  period  a  little  subsequent 
to  this,  that  "  the  state  of  the  country  at  this  time  was  truly 
1  distressed  :  a  large  quota  of  their  best  men  were  abroad,  the 
'  rest  harassed  by  the  enemy  at  home,  obliged  to  do  continual 
'  duty  in  garrisons,  and  in  scouts,  and  subject  to  severe  discipline 
'  for  neglects.  They  earned  their  bread  at  the  continual  hazard 
'  of  their  lives,  never  daring  to  stir  abroad  unarmed  ;  they  could 
'  till  no  lands  but  what  were  within  call  of  the  garrisoned  houses, 
'  into  which  their  families  were  crowded  ;  their  husbandry,  lurn- 
'  ber  trade  and  fishery,  were  declining,  and  their  taxes  increas- 
'  ing,  yet  these  people  resolutely  kept  their  ground."* 

But  we  need  not  confine  our  attention  to  a  recital  of  their 
fears  and  apprehensions,  and  to  their  preparations  for  self-de- 
fence. We  may  look  at  the  actual  loss  of  lives  among  them. 
How  many  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  Hampton  were  slain  by 
the  Indians,  we  cannot  confidently  tell.  The  following  facts 
rest  on  good  authority. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  1G77,  four  persons  were  killed  in  that 
part  of  the  town  which  is  now  North-Hampton.  These  men 
were  Edward  Colcord,  Jr.,  Abraham  Perkins,  Jr.,  Benjamin 
Hilliard,  and  Caleb  Towle. 

August  4,  1691,  Capt.  Samuel  Sherburne  and  James  Dolloff, 
both  of  Hampton,  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  near  Casco  Bay, 
in  Maine. 

August  26,  1696,  John  Locke  was  killed,  while  at  work  in 
his  field,  in  the  northeast  part  of  the  town,  at  Locke's  neck, 
now  in  the  town  of  Rye.t 

August  17,  1703,  five  persons  were  killed  between  this  town  and 
Salisbury.  One  of  them  was  a  little  boy,  named  Hushrey.  The 


"  Belknap. 

t  In  Farmer  and  Moore's  Gazetteer,  it  is  stated  that  Locke  was  killed  in 
1694.     The  date  given  here  reals  on  the  authority  of  Hampton  Records. 


17 

others  were  Jonathan  Green,  Nicholas  Bond,  Thomas  Lancas- 
ter and  the  widow  Mussey.  The  last  two  were  quakers.  One 
of  them,  Mrs.  Mussey,  was  distinguished  as  a  speaker  among 
the  quakers,  by  whom  her  death  was  much  lamented. 

Dr.  Belknap  states  that  these  persons  were  killed  at  Hampton 
village  by  a  party  of  Indians  under  Capt.  Tom,  and  further, 
that  at  the  same  time,  the  Indians  plundered  two  houses,  but 
having  alarmed  the  people,  and  being  pursued  by  them,  they  fled. 

August  1,  1706,  Benjamin  Fifield  was  killed  in  the  pasture 
near  his  house,  and  at  the  same  time  a  boy  was  either  killed  or 
taken. 

Having  mentioned  these  instances  of  murder,  nearly  all  of 
which  were  committed  within  the  limits  of  Hampton,  I  will 
merely  subjoin  a  brief  account  of  an  expedition,  which  proved 
fatal  to  Capt.  Swett,  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  town.  He 
was  sent  by  the  government  to  assist  the  eastern  settlements 
against  the  Indians.  He  was  accompanied  by  forty  English 
soldiers,  and  200  friendly  Indians.  With  these  forces  he  march- 
ed to  Ticonic  falls,  on  the  Kennebeck,  where  it  is  said  the  In- 
dians had  six  forts,  well  furnished  with  ammunition.  Having 
met  the  enemy,  Swett  and  his  men  were  repulsed,  and  he  him- 
self with  about  sixty  others  slain.  Probably  a  part  of  this  num- 
ber, as  well  as  their  leader,  belonged  to  this  town. 

We  shall  next  glance  at  the  civil  and  political  history  of  the 
town  during  the  early  period  of  its  existence.  In  doing  this,  it 
may  be  proper,  not  only  to  consider  the  connection  of  the  town 
with  the  colonial  governments  of  Massachusetts  and  of  New- 
Hampshire,  but  also  the  policy  pursued  by  the  people,  consider- 
ed simply  as  a  town. 

Very  soon  after  the  inhabitants  acquired  corporate  powers, 
we  find  them,  as  has  already  been  remarked,  assembled  in  town 
meeting.  The  transactions  at  the  first  meeting  of  which  any  re- 
cord remains,  have  already  been  noticed.  A  town  clerk,  and 
three  lot  layers  were  chosen,  the  latter  for  the  term  of  one  year. 
It  appears  from  the  records  that  some  of  the  town  officers  were 
from  the  first  elected  annually.  Others  seem  to  have  been  chosen 
3 


18 

for  an  indefinite  period,  or  till  their  places  should  be  suppli- 
ed by  a  new  election.  The  first  town  clerk  held  his  office  more 
than  four  years,  probably  without  being  annually  reflected. 
His  successor  continued  in  office  nearly  three  years  before  any 
new  election  was  made.  There  is  no  evidence  from  the  records 
that  this  became  an  annual  office  for  more  than  sixty  years  after 
the  settlement  was  commenced. 

It  may  be  well  here  to  notice  the  fact,  that  the  people  of  this 
place  have  not,  during  any  period  of  their  history,  been  disposed 
to  change  their  town  clerks  frequently,  there  having  been  less 
than  twenty  during  the  two  hundred  years  that  the  town  has 
existed. 

The  duties  and  the  compensation  of  the  lot-layers  have  been 
already  mentioned. 

Another  set  of  officers,  chosen  at  a  very  early  period,  was 
that  of  woodwards,  an  office  which  long  ago  became  extinct 
among  this  people.  It  would  be  very  natural  to  suppose  that 
when  almost  the  whole  township  was  a  wilderness,  no  objection 
would  have  been  made  to  cutting  trees  in  any  part  of  it ;  but 
such  was  not  the  case. 

As  early  as  1639,  three  woodwards  were  elected,  and  no  man 
was  to  fell  any  trees  except  on  his  own  lot,  without  permission 
from  these  men,  or  at  least  two  of  them  ;  and  at  another  meet- 
ing during  the  same  year,  the  town  voted  a  similar  prohibition, 
and  also  a  fine  for  its  violation.  The  fine  was  ten  shillings  for 
every  tree  felled  without  license  from  the  woodwards. 

It  was  further  voted,  that  if  any  man  had  any  trees  assigned 
to  him,  he  should  fell  them  within  one  month,  and  make  use  of 
them  within  three  months  after  felling,  or  the  trees  should  be  at 
the  disposal  of  any  two  of  the  woodwards. 

In  taking  a  brief  notice  of  the  town  officers,  during  the  early 
part  of  our  history,  it  will  probably  be  expected  that  the  board 
of  selectmen  should  hold  a  prominent  place.  It  does  not  appear, 
however,  that  such  officers  were  elected  till  the  settlement  had 
been  begun  several  years.  The  practice  of  choosing  selectmen 
seems  to  have  been  of  New-England  origin,  and  to  have  grown 
up  from  the  circumstances  in  which  the  early  inhabitants  were 


19 

placed.  After  they  had  established  themselves  in  the  wilderness, 
far  from  their  native  land,  and  from  the  seat  of  that  government 
to  which  they  acknowledged  allegiance,  they  found  themselves 
under  the  necessity  of  managing  their  own  affairs.  At  first  these 
seem  to  have  been  conducted  in  a  purely  democratic  way,  so 
far  at  least  as  those  who  were  regarded  as  freemen  were  con- 
cerned. They  held  frequent  town  meetings,  and  delegated  power 
to  committees  from  time  to  time,  only  for  a  specific  purpose. 
This  method  of  proceeding  being  at  length  found  inconvenient, 
several  persons  were  chosen  to  act  for  the  town,  as  it  is  express- 
ed in  the  records,  "  in  managing  the  prudential  affairs  thereof." 
This  board  of  officers,  to  which  at  length  the  name  of  select- 
men was  given,  at  first,  consisted  in  Hampton,  of  seven  persons. 
The  first  notice  of  such  a  board  is  in  1644.  On  the  4th  of  May 
in  that  year,  the  following  vote  was  passed — "  These  several 
'  brethren,  namely — William  Fuller,  Thomas  Moulton,  Robert 
'  Page,  Philemon  Dalton,  Thomas  Ward,  Walter  Ropper,  and 
'  William  Howard,  are  chosen  to  order  the  prudential  affairs  of 
'  the  town  for  a  whole  year,  next  following  ;  reserving  only  to  the 
'  freemen  the  giving  out  of  commons  and  receiving  of  inhabit- 
'  ants." 

In  about  ten  or  twelve  instances  the  number  of  selectmen  has 
been  seven.  Generally  five  were  chosen,  till  the  year  1823,  and 
from  that  time  to  the  present  only  three  have  been  elected  an- 
nually, except  in  the  year  1829,  when  the  board  consisted  of  five 
persons. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  speak  particularly  of  other  town  officers, 
as  they  were  generally  the  same,  and  possessed  of  similar  pow- 
ers, with  those  of  more  modern  times. 

To  show  that  the  town  took  cognizance  of  some  matters 
which  at  the  present  day  are  left  to  adjust  themselves,  I  will 
mention  a  regulation,  made  in  1641,  in  regard  towages.  From 
September  to  March,  workmen  were  to  be  allowed  only  Is. 
4rf.  per  day,  and  from  March  to  September,  Is.  Sd.  except  for 
mowing,  for  which  2s.  should  be  allowed.  For  a  day's  work  for 
a  man  with  four  oxen  and  a  cart,  five  or  six  shillings  were  to  be 
allowed,  according  to  the  season  of  the  year.  Soon  after  it  was 


20 

voted  that  the  best  workmen  should  not  receive  more  than  2$.  a 
day,  and  others  not  more  than  l>.  Sd. 

It  has  already  been  noticed,  that  Hampton  was  settled  by 
the  authority  of  Massachusetts,  and  it  was  for  many  years  con-' 
sidered  under  the  jurisdiction  of  that  colony.  In  1639  the 
town  was  authorized  to  send  a  deputy,  or  representative,  to  the 
General  Court  at  Boston. 

This  privilege  was  not  long  negected,  for  about  five  months 
afterwards  the  town  assessed  a  tax  to  pay  their  deputy,  John 
Moulton,  who  had  at  that  time  been  twice  to  the  court,  having 
spent  twenty-seven  days  in  the  service  of  the  town.  The  com- 
pensation allowed  him  was  2s.  Gd.  per  day,  besides  his  expenses. 

In  September,  1640,  John  Cross  was  elected  a  deputy  to  the 
court  to  be  holden  on  the  7th  day  of  the  next  month.  He  was  the 
second  representative  chosen  by  the  town. 

Hampton  was  probably  for  a  short  time  under  the  immediate 
jurisdiction  of  the  courts  at  Boston.  On  the  25th  of  July,  1640, 
a  "  grand  juryman"  was  chosen  for  the  court  to  be  holden  at  Bos- 
ton in  the  following  month. 

The  town  was  soon  annexed  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  county 
of  Essex,  whose  courts  were  held  at  Ipswich. 

In  1643  a  new  county  was  formed,  embracing  all  the  towns 
between  the  Merrimack  and  Piscataqua  rivers.  This  was  called 
the  county  of  Norfolk.  The  number  of  towns  within  its  limits 
was  six.  Salisbury  was  the  shire  town  ;  Portsmouth  and  Dover, 
however,  had  courts  of  their  own,  and  in  each  of  the  towns  there 
was  an  inferior  court,  whose  jurisdiction  extended  to  causes  of 
twenty  shillings  and  under. 

The  claim  of  Massachusetts  to  jurisdiction  over  the  whole  terri- 
tory embraced  within  the  county  of  Norfolk,  was  not  undisputed. 
Mason,to  whom  a  large  part  of  it  had  been  granted  by  charter,was 
dead.  His  heirs  made  some  opposition, but  there  were  at  that  time 
almost  insurmountable  difficulties  in  the  way  of  obtaining  redress 
by  a  civil  process.  In  England,  Charles  and  his  Parliament  were 
at  variance,  and  civil  war  was  raging  among  the  people.  When, 
after  the  execution  of  the  king,  Cromwell  was  at  the  head  of 
the  Commonweath,  Mason's  heirs  could  not  hope  for  success  in 


21 

bringing  an  action  against  Massachusetts,  for  his  family  had  al- 
ways been  adherents  to  the  royal  cause. 

At  the  restoration  in  1660,  an  attempt  was  made  to  influence 
the  king  to  grant  relief  to  the  heirs,  or  rather  to  the  heir,  of 
Mason.  A  petition  for  this  purpose  was  presented  to  Charles 
II.,  who  referred  it  to  his  Attorney  General,  and  he  reported  that 
the  petitioner  had  a  good  and  legal  title  to  the  Province  of  New- 
Hampshire. 

In  1664  commissioners  were  appointed  by  the  crown  to  set- 
tle disputes  in  the  New-England  Colonies.  These  commission- 
ers were  not  very  favorably  received,  as  their  appointment,  with 
such  powers  as  were  conferred  upon  them,  was  considered  by  the 
colonists  an  infringement  of  their  chartered  rights. 

On  their  arrival  in  New-England,  they  made  inquiries  in  re- 
gard to  the  bounds  of  Mason's  patent,  and  decided  that  the  ju- 
risdiction of  Massachusetts  should  extend  no  farther  north  than 
the  Bound  House. 

The  proceedings  of  the  commissioners  gave  umbrage  to  a 
large  portion  of  the  people.  A  party,  however,  had  been  pre- 
viously disaffected  towards  the  government  of  Massachusetts. 
A  person  by  the  name  of  Corbett,  who  belonged  to  this  party, 
instigated,  probably,  by  the  commissioners,  prepared  a  petition 
to  the  king  in  the  name  of  the  towns  of  Portsmouth,  Dover, 
Exeter,  and  Hampton,  complaining  of  the  usurpation  of  Massa- 
chusetts, and  praying  for  a  release  from  that  government.  A  large 
majority  of  the  people,  however,  did  not  countenance  these  pro- 
ceedings, and  at  their  request  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts appointed  a  committee,  before  whom  the  people  of  the  four 
towns  had  an  opportunity  to  show  their  disapprobation  of  Cor. 
bett's  proceedings.  Corbett  himself  was  apprehended  by  war- 
rant from  the  secretary  of  Massachusetts,  in  the  name  of  the 
General  Court,  and  tried  and  found  guilty  of  sedition,  and  pun- 
ished with  severity. 

Soon  after  this  period  the  New-England  colonies  were  involv- 
ed in  a  general  war  with  the  Indians.  Previous  to  that  time, 
the  wars  with  them  had  been  of  limited  extent.  For  many  years 
their  minds  had  been  full  of  suspicions  and  of  jealousies.  These 


22 

were  fanned  and  blown  into  aflame  by  Philip,  a  powerful  sachem, 
who  resided  at  Mount  Hope,  in  Rhode  Island.  He  was  resolv- 
ed upon  a  war  of  extermination.  He  sent  runners  to  most  of 
the  tribes  in  New-England,  and  succeeded  in  engaging  nearly 
all  of  them  in  an  enterprize  so  ad riotly  planned. 

Open  hostilities  commenced  in  June,  1675.  The  eastern 
Indians,  who  resided  in  Maine,  extended  their  incursions  into 
New-Hampshire.  Houses  were  burned,  and  people  slain,  in 
various  places.  One  man  was  killed  and  another  captured,  by  a 
small  party  that  lay  in  ambush  near  the  road,  between  this  town 
and  Exeter.  The  one  who  was  taken  afterwards  made  his  es- 
•cape. 

I  shall  not  proceed  to  narrate  in  detail  the  events  of  this  war. 
The  dangers  and  the  sufferings  of  the  people  of  Hampton,  at  that 
time,  have  been  already  noticed.  It  must  suffice  to  add,  that 
the  war  terminated  in  the  southern  part  of  New-England,  with 
the  death  of  Philip,  in  August,  1676.  In  New-Hampshire,  it 
raged  two  years  longer,  and  for  a  time  seemed  to  threaten  the 
extinction  of  the  whole  colony. 

During  this  war,  the  heir  of  Mason  made  another  attempt  in 
England  to  recover  possession  of  New-Hampshire.  Massachu- 
setts was  called  upon  by  the  crown  to  show  cause  why  she  exer- 
cised jurisdiction  over  this  province.  The  royal  order  was 
brought  to  Boston  by  Edward  Randolph,  a  kinsman  of  Mason. 
He  soon  came  to  New-Hampshire,  and  published  a  letter  from 
Mason,  in  which  he  claimed  the  soil  of  the  province  as  his  own 
property.  The  people  here  were  alarmed,  and  called  public 
meetings,  in  which  they  protested  against  the  claim,  and 
agreed  to  petition  the  king  for  protection. 

They  stated  that  they  had  purchased  the  land  of  the  natives  ; 
that  they  had  labored  hard  to  bring  it  under  cultivation,  and  they 
thought  it  very  unjust  that  their  hard  earned  property  should 
now  be  wrested  from  them. 

Agents  were  sent  over  to  England,  after  Randolph's  return, 
and  a  hearing  was  granted  them  before  the  highest  judicial  au- 
thorities. After  the  hearing,  the  judges  reported  that  Mason's 
heir  had  no  right  of  government  in  New-Hampshire ;  and  further, 


23 

that  the  four  towns  of  Portsmouth,  Dover,  Exeter,  and 
Hampton,  were  beyond  the  limits  of  Massachusetts.  In  regard 
to  Mason's  right  to  the  soil  of  New-Hampshire,  they  expressed 
no  opinion. 

This  report  was  accepted  and  confirmed  by  the  king  in  council. 
New-Hampshire  was  then  separated  from  Massachusetts,  with 
which  it  had  been  for  so  long  time  so  happily  united.     The  com- 
mission for  the  government  of  New-Hampshire  passed  the  great 
seal  on  the  13th  of  September,  1679. 

Under  the  new  order  of  things,  a  President  and  six  Counsel- 
lors were  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  these  were  authorized  to 
choose  three  other  persons,  to  be  added  to  their  number.  An 
Assembly  was  also  to  be  called.  The  powers  of  the  respective 
branches  of  the  government  were  tolerably  well  defined. 

Among  the  counsellors  named  in  the  commission,  was  Chris- 
topher Hussey,  of  this  town,  and  one  of  the  three  afterwards 
chosen  also  belonged  to  Hampton,  viz — Samuel  Dalton. 

This  change  of  government  was  very  far  from  being  satis- 
factory to  the  people  generally,  and  even  those  appointed  to  of- 
fice entered  upon  their  duties  with  great  reluctance. 

In  the  writs  issued  for  calling  a  General  Assembly,  the  per- 
sons in  each  town,  who  were  considered  as  qualified  to  vote, 
were  expressly  named.  The  whole  number  in  the  four  towns 
was  209,  fifty-seven  of  whom  belonged  to  Hampton.  The  oath 
of  allegiance  was  administered  to  each  voter.  A  public  fast  was 
observed,  to  ask  the  divine  blessing  on  the  assembly  that  was 
soon  to  convene,  and  to  pray  for  "  the  continuance  of  their  pre- 
cious and  pleasant  things." 

The  assembly  consisted  of  eleven  members,  three  from  each 
of  the  four  towns,  except  Exeter,  which  sent  only  two,  that 
town  having  but  twenty  voters.  The  members  from  Hampton 
were  Anthony  Stanyan,  Thomas  Alarston,  and  Edward  Gove. 
The  assembly  met  at  Portsmouth,  on  the  16th  of  March,  1680. 
Rev.  Joshua  Moody,  of  that  town,  preached  the  election  sermon. 
Under  the  new  government,  the  President  and  Council,  with 
the  Assembly,  were  a  Supreme  court  of  Judicature,  a  jury  be- 
ing allowed  when  desired  by  the  parties.  Inferior  Courts  were 
established  at  Dover,  Portsmouth,  and  Hampton. 


24 

In  1682,  another  change  was  introduced  into  the  government. 
Edward  Cranfield  was  appointed  Lieutenant  Governor  and  Com- 
mander-in-chief of  New-Hampshire.  This  change  was  effect- 
ed through  the  influence  of  Mason's  grandson  and  heir.  Cran- 
field's  commission  was  dated  May  9,  1682. 

Within  a  few  days  after  publishing  his  commission,  he  began 
to  exhibit  his  arbitrary  disposition,  by  suspending  two  of  the 
counsellors.  The  next  year  he  dismissed  the  Assembly,  be- 
cause they  would  not  comply  with  all  his  requests. 

This  act  of  Cranfield's  very  much  increased  the  discontent  of 
the  people.  In  this  town  particularly,  and  in  Exeter,  it  created 
a  great  excitement.  Edward  Gove,  of  this  town,  a  member  of 
the  Assembly  that  had  been  dismissed,  was  urgent  for  a  revolu- 
tion. He  went  from  town  to  town,  crying  out  for  "  liberty  and 
reform,"  and  endeavoring  to  induce  the  leading  men  in  the 
Province  to  join  him  in  a  confederacy  to  overturn  the  govern- 
ernment.  But  they  were  less  rash  than  he  was.  However  they 
might  feel  towards  the  government,  they  disapproved  of  Cove's 
measures,  and  informed  against  him ;  upon  which  he  collected 
his  followers  and  appeared  in  arms  ;  but  was  at  length  induced 
to  surrender.  He  was  soon  after  tried  for  high  treason,  was 
convicted,  and  received  sentence  of  death.  His  property  was 
confiscated.  He  was  sent  to  England,  and  after  remaining 
imprisoned  in  the  Tower  three  years,  was  pardoned,  and  re- 
turned home,  and  his  estate  was  restored  to  him. 

Several  other  persons  were  also  tried  for  treason,  two  of  whom 
belonged  to  Hampton.  These  were  convicted  of  being  accom- 
plices with  Gove,  but  were  reprieved,  and  at  length  pardoned 
without  being  sent  to  England. 

Not  long  after,  when  the  courts  had  all  been  organized  in  a 
way  highly  favorable  to  Mason,  he  commenced  suits  against  sev- 
eral persons  for  holding  lands  and  felling  timber  which  he  claim- 
ed. These  suits  were  decided  in  his  favor ;  the  persons  prose- 
cuted, generally,  indeed,  making  no  defences.  Some  of  the 
people  of  this  town  gave  in  writing  their  reasons  for  not  offer- 
ing a  defence.  The  jury,  however,  gave  their  verdicts  without 
hesitation.  A  large  number  of  cases  were  despatched  in  a  sin- 
gle day,  and  the  costs  were  made  very  great. 


25 

Still,  those  who  were  prosecuted,  and  against  whom  execu- 
tions were  obtained,  had  one  consolation.  When  their  estates 
were  exposed  to  sale,  no  purchaser  could  be  found,  so  that  they 
still  retained  possession  of  them. 

At  length  the  grievances  of  the  people  were  past  endurance, 
and  they  resolved  to  complain  directly  to  the  king.  Nathaniel 
Weare,  of  this  town,  was  accordingly  chosen  their  agent,  and 
despatched  to  England. 

In  1684,  Cranfield  wishing  to  raise  money  to  relieve  himself 
from  embarrassment,  under  false  pretences  induced  the  Assem- 
bly to  pass  an  act  for  raising  the  money  by  taxation.  The  con- 
stables either  negected  or  refused  to  collect  the  .tax,  and  a  spe- 
cial officer  was  appointed  for  the  purpose.  When  this  officer 
came  to  Hampton,  he  was  beaten,  deprived  of  his  sword,  seated 
on  a  horse  and  conveyed  out  of  the  Province,  to  Salisbury,  with 
a  rope  about  his  neck,  and  his  feet  tied  together  beneath  the 
horse's  body. 

At  the  time  of  this  transaction,  Weare,  the  agent  of  the  peo- 
ple, was  in  England.  In  consequence  of  his  representations, 
censures  were  passed  on  some  of  Cranfield's  proceedings,  and 
he  soon  after  left  New-England  and  sailed  to  the  West-Indies. 

When  the  revolution  occurred,  which  placed  William,  Prince 
of  Orange,  on  the  throne  of  England,  the  people  of  New-Hamp- 
shire were  left  in  an  unsettled  state.  A  convention  of  deputies 
was  holden,  to  resolve  upon  some  method  of  government.  Dr. 
Bel  knap  says  that  "  it  does  not  appear  from  Hampton  records 
whether  they  joined  in  this  Convention."  This  statement  is  in- 
correct. The  town  determined  to  unite  with  the  other  towns  in 
the  Convention,  and  for  this  purpose  they  chose  and  instructed 
six  delegates.  The  persons  chosen  were  Henry  Green,  Henry 
Dow,  Nathaniel  Weare,  Samuel  Sherburne,  Morriss  Hobbs,  and 
Edward  Gove.* 

At  the  first  meeting,  the  Convention  came  to  no  conclusion. 
Afterward  they  thought  it  best  to  become -united  with  Massachu- 

*  See  Appendix,  E. 
4 


26 

setts  again.  Massachusetts  very  readily  agreed  to  receive  them 
till  the  king's  pleasure  should  be  known.  In  1692,  the  king 
having  refused  to  allow  this  union,  sent  over  John  Usher  as 
lieutenant  governor  of  New-Hampshire. 

The  people  in  general  were  so  well  satisfied  with  the  govern- 
ment of  Massachusetts,  that  they  were  very  reluctant  to  be  again 
separated  from  it.  They,  however,  submitted  to  the  king's  order, 
as  a  case  of  necessity. 

We  have  now  arrived  at  a  period  upon  which  we  cannot  look 
back  without  astonishment  and  regret,  at  the  infatuation  which 
prevailed  in  regard  to  witchcraft.  I  cannot  relate,  in  detail,  the 
proceedings  of  courts,  and  of  churches,  too,  in  relation  to 
this  subject.  The  chief  seat  of  the  infatuation  was  in  and  near 
Salem.  Many  persons  were  accused  of  being  witches,  were  tried 
and  condemned.  Several  were  executed,  while  others  were 
pardoned.  The  delusion  was  not  confined  to  the  vicinity  of 
Salem.  It  extended  to  this  town,  and  persons  here  fell  under 
suspicion,  and  were  tried  for  the  crime  of  witchcraft.  "  In 
fine,"  to  use  the  language  of  an  old  writer,  "  the  country  was  in 
a  dreadful  ferment,  and  wise  men  foresaw  a  long  train  of  bloody 
and  dismal  consequences." 

We  may  wonder  that  the  people  of  that  period  could  be  so 
deluded  ;  but  in  New-England  a  belief  in  witchcraft  was  then 
almost  universal.  The  same  belief  also  prevailed  in  Eng- 
land, and  even  took  strong  hold  of  some  powerful  minds.  It  is 
said  that  several  persons  were  tried  and  condemned  by  Sir  Mat- 
thew Hale,  a  gentleman  of  noble  intellectual  endowments,  and 
great  moral  worth,  and  one  of  the  most  distinguished  judges 
that  ever  sat  upon  the  English  bench. 

The  author  of  the  "  Magnalia,"  after  relating  several  wonder- 
ful feats,  said  to  have  been  performed  by  those  who  were  reported 
to  be  witches,  gravely  adds  :  "  Flashy  people  may  burlesque 
'these  things,  but  when  hundreds  of  people,  in  a  country  where 
'  they  have  as  much  mother  wit  certainly  as  the  rest  of  mankind, 
'  know  them  to  be  true,  nothing  but  the  absurd  and  froward 
'  spirit  of  Sadducism  can  question  them." 

But  this  feeling  has  passed   away,  and  few  people  now  fear 


27 

that  they  shall  be  called  Sadducees,  or  infidels,  forjmaintaining 
the  opinion  that  witchcraft  is  all  a  delusion. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  go  back  to  our  earliest  history,  and 
trace  the  progress  of  education  in  the  town ;  to  inquire|what 
methods  were  adopted  by  our  fathers,  to  instruct  the  young,  and 
to  notice  the  self-denials  and  the  expenses  to  which  the  people 
subjected  themselves,  to  afford  the  means  of  instruction^  their 
children.  A  subject  so  important  and  so  interesting,  must,  how- 
ever, be  passed  over  with  a  very  few  remarks. 

It  is  probable  that  the  ministers  of  the  gospel,  who  were,  from 
the  first  settlement  of  the  town,  stationed  here  as  religious  teach- 
ers, improved  the  opportunities  which  were  afforded  them,  to 
inform  the  minds  of  those  to  whom  they  ministered,  particularly 
the  minds  of  the  young.  To  judge  otherwise  would  be  derog- 
atory to  the  good  sense,  the  intelligence,  and  the  discretion  of 
the  ministers  themselves. 

But  straitened  as  were  the  circumstances  of  the  people,  they 
as  a  town  were  not  unmindful  of  their  duties  to  the  young. 
Provision  was  early  made  for  furnishing  them  with  the  means  of 
acquiring  knowledge.  It  is,  indeed,  uncertain  at  how  early  a 
•period  schools  were  established  among  them ;  probably  soon 
after  tKeTormation  of  the  settlement. 

There  is  on  record  an  agreement  of  the  selectmen  with  a 
school-master,  made  in  1649,  employing  him,  for  a  stipulated 
sum,  to  instruct  the  children  of  the  town  daily,  for  a  whole  year, 
when  the  weather  would  permit  them  to  come  together.*  It  is 
hardly  probable  that  a  contract  would  have  been  made  with  an 
instructer  for  so  long  a  term,  unless  schools,  or  a  school,  had 
been  previously  established.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  suppose 
that  the  origin  of  schools  here  is  nearly  coeval  with  the  settle- 
ment of  the  town.  While  the  town  was  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  Massachusetts,  the  people  were  required  by  law  to  maintain 
a  free  school  during  a  considerable  portion  of  the  time.  Still, 
it  is  not  certain  that  this  law  went  into  operation  here  till  after 
the  date  of  the  agreement  already  mentioned.  Since  that  time, 

*  See  Appendix,  F. 


28 

there  can  be  but  little  doubt  that  free  schools  have  been  main- 
tained during  a  part  at  least  of  every  year,  where  opportunities 
have  been  furnished  for  acquiring  the  rudiments  of  an  education. 

The  next  thing  I  shall  notice,  is  the  Ecclesiastical  History  of 
the  town. 

The  object  of  the  first  settlers  near  the  Piscataqua,  as  already 
mentioned,  was  to  prosecute  the  fishing  business.  That  business 
has  undoubtedly  been  carried  on  here  from  a  very  early  period  ; 
but  this  seems  not  to  have  been  the  prime  object  in  forming  the 
settlement.  Our  fathers  came  hither  for  the  enjoyment  of  religious 
freedom.  One  of  their  first  movements  was  to  secure  a  minis- 
ter, who  should  be  to  them  a  spiritual  guide.  They  came  hithor 
united  in  church  covenant,  and  at  the  very  commencement  of 
the  settlement  they  were  supplied  with  a  pastor.  It  has  been 
handed  down  to  us  by  tradition,  that  the  church  was  formed, 
and  a  pastor  procured,  before  the  settlement  of  the  town  was 
actually  commenced  ;  and  the  language  of  our  early  records 
seems  to  give  countenance  to  this  tradition.  The  records  state 
that,  "  It  was  granted  unto  Mr.  Stephen  Bachelor  and  his  com- 
'  pany,  who  were  some  of  them  united  together  by  church  gov-  v  t 
'  vernment,  that  they  should  have  a  plantation  at  Winnjcumet.l6W*t 
'  and  accordingly  they  were  shortly  after  to  enter  upon  and  begin 
'  the  same."  This  purports  to  have  been  taken  from  the  Massa- 
chusetts court  records. 

A  fair  inference  from  this  language  is  that  the  formation  of 
the  plantation  was  subsequent  to  that  of  the  church. 

It  has  sometimes  been  said  that  this  was  the  second  church 
formed  in  New-Hampshire, — a  church  having  been  previously 
gathered  at  Exeter.  Both  churches  were  formed  in  the  year 
165J8;  but  I  have  been  unable  satisfactorily  to  determine  which 
may  justly  claim  priority  of  date ;  nor  is  it  of  much  consequence. 
This  church  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  oldest  now  existing  in 
New-Hampshire,  as  the  first  church  formed  in  Exeter  became 
extinct  a  few  years  after  its  formation,  when  that  town  came 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts.  The  pastor  of  the 
church  was  under  sentence  of  banishment  from  that  Province, 


29 

and  he  retired  to  Wells,  in  the  Province  of  Maine,  whither  he 
was  followed  by  a  considerable  portion  of  his  church. 

In  an  old  book,  entitled  "  Wonder- Working  Providence  of 
Zion's  Saviour,"  the  church  at  Hampton  is  said  to  have  been 
the  seventeenth  formed  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts. 

The  first  pastor  of  the  church  was  Rev.  Stephen  Bachelor. 
He  was,  at  the  time  he  came  hither,  advanced  in  life,  being  77 
years  of  age.  He  had  been  a  minister  in  England  for  many 
years.  In  1632,  he  removed  to  this  country,  and  became  the 
first  pastor  of  the  church  at  Lynn.  In  1638  he  came  to  Hamp- 
ton with  the  little  band  that  settled  here.  He  was  pastor  of  this 
church  about  three  years,  and  was  removed  in  1641,  at  the  age 
of  80.*  He  lived  to  a  very  advanced  age,  and  is  said  to  have 
died  in  England,  in  1661,  having  completed  a  whole  century. 

Mr.  Bachelor's  descendants  are  very  numerous  in  Hampton, 
and  in  several  other  towns  in  New-Hampshire. 

When  the  settlement  was  in  its  infancy,  a  log-house  afforded 
the  people  a  temporary  place  of  worship.  That  house  was  lo- 
cated nigh  the  spot  where  three  of  the  subsequent  meeting- 
houses stood  ;  very  near  the  present  site  of  the  academy. 

At  the  early  period  of  which  we  are  speaking,  the  people 
were  called  together  for  worship  by  the  ringing  of  a  bell,  as  ap- 
pears from  a  vote  of  the  town,  Nov.  22,  1639,  when  one  of  the 
inhabitants  was  appointed  "  to  ring  the  bell  before  the  meetings 
on  the  Lord's  days  and  on  other  days,"  for  which  he  was  to  have 
a  specified  sum.  How  interesting  to  the  settlers  must  have  been 
the  sound  of  that  bell,  as  its  peals  echoed  through  the  forest 
and  broke  the  stillness  of  the  Sabbath  morning,  inviting  them 
to  assemble  for  the  worship  of  Jehovah  ;  and  how  strange  to  the 
untutored  sons  of  the  forest,  to  see  the  settlers  laying  aside 
their  implements  of  husbandry,  and  all  the  tools  which  they 
were  accustomed  to  use,  resting  from  their  labors,  and  wending 
their  way,  along  different  paths,  to  the  log-house  whence  the 
sound  of  the  bell  proceeded. 

*  The  Massachusetts  Colony  Records  say  that  he  was  removed  from  the 
pastoral  office  for  "  contempt  of  authority." 


30 

In  1639,  the  year  after  the  formation  of  the  church,  Rev. 
Timothy  Dalton  was  associated  with  the  former  minister,  in  the 
pastoral  office.*  Mr.  Bachelor  was  indeed  generally  designated 
as  the  Pastor,  and  his  associate  as  the  Teacher  of  the  church. 

Mr.  Dalton  came  to  Hampton  very  soon  after  the  formation  of 
the  settlement,  and  it  is  said  a  considerable  company  of  settlers 
came  with  him. 

After  the  removal  of  Mr.  Bachelor,  in  1641,  Mr.  Dalton  was 
sole  pastor  of  the  church  about  six  years,  when  Rev.  John 
Whelewright,  who  had  previously  been  settled  at  Exeter,  was 
associated  with  him.  How  long  they  were  thus  connected  does 
not  appear  from  any  records  which  I  have  consulted.  Mr. 
Whelewright  was  at  length  dismissed, when  Mr.  Dalton  was  again 
left  sole  pastor  of  the  church.  He  continued  in  the  ministry 
till  his  death. 

Our  records  do  not  show  what  compensation  was  made  to  Mr. 
Bachelor,  nor  to  Mr.  Dalton,  in  the  early  part  of  his  ministry. 
Large  tracts  of  land  were  granted  to  them  both.  At  one  town 
meeting  in  1639,  300  acres  were  granted  to  each,  Mr.  Bachelor 
having  a  house  lot  before.  Grants  of  land  were  also  made  to  them, 
or  to  one  of  them,  at  other  times.  It  is  pretty  evident  that  at  first 
they  received  no  stated  salary.  This  appears  from  an  agreement 
with  Mr.  Dalton,  in  1651,  when,  on  certain  conditions,  he 
released  the  town  from  all  "  debts  and  dues"  to  him,  from  his  first 
coming  until  he  had  "  a  set  pay"  given  him  by  the  town.  After 
he  had  been  here  several  years,  he  seems  to  have  had  about  <£40 
per  annum.  Mr.  Dalton  is  called  by  an  old  writer,  "  the  rever- 
end, grave  and  gracious  Mr.  Dalton."  He  died  on  the  28th  of 
December,  1661,  at  an  advanced  age,  probably  about  84  years, 
having  been  here  22  years  in  the  ministry.  Our  records 
state  that  he  was  "  a  faithful  and  painful  laborer  in  God's  vine- 
yard." 

Mr.  Dalton,  it  is  well  known,  was  the  minister  who  gave  by 
deed  to  the  church  and  town  of  Hampton  the  property  from 
which  the  ministerial  funds  of  this  town,  Hampton  Falls,  and 
North  Hampton,  have  been  derived. 

*  See  Appendix,  G. 


31 

Soon  after  his  ministry  commenced,  the  town  adopted  meas- 
ures for  building  a  new  meeting-house,  of  framed  work,  to  take 
the  place  of  the  log-house  which  had  served  temporarily  as  a 
place  of  worship.  By  vote  of  the  town,  the  new  house  was  to 
be  forty  feet  in  length,  twenty-two  in  width,  and  thirteen  in 
height,  between  joints,  with  a  place  for  the  bell,  which  was 
given  by  the  pastor. 

The  agreement  with  the  contractor  for  building  this  house 
was  mutually  subscribed  by  the  parties  on  the  14th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1640.  Soon  afterwards  it  was  determined  to  defray  the 
expense  by  voluntary  contribution.  The  house  was  not  wholly 
finished  for  several  years.  In  July,  1644,  persons  were  appointed 
to  ask  and  receive  the  sums  which  were  to  be  given  towards 
building  it,  and,  in  case  any  should  refuse  to  pay  voluntarily, 
this  committee  was  required  to  use  all  lawful  means  to  compel 
them.  The  committee  was  farther  instructed  to  lay  out  upon  the 
meeting-house,  to  the  best  advantage,  the  money  they  might 
raise.  When  this  house  was  first  occupied  as  a  place  of  wor- 
ship, is  not  known. 

In  1649,  liberty  was  given  to  certain  persons  to  build  a  gal- 
lery at  the  west  end  of  the  meeting-house,  and  these  persons, 
on  their  part,  agreed  to  build  the  gallery,  provided  that  the 
"  foremost  seat  "  should  be  appropriated  to  them,  for  their  own 
use,  and  as  their  own  property. 

The  meeting-houses  first  built  in  this  town  were  without  pews. 
They  were  constructed  simply  with  seats ;  and  for  the  purpose 
of  preventing  any  disorder  that  might  otherwise  be  occasioned, 
committees  were  from  time  to  time  appointed,  to  direct  the  peo- 
ple what  seat  each  one  might  occupy. 

Early  in  the  year  1647,  the  church  and  town  gave  a  call  to 
Rev.  John  Whelewright  to  settle  as  colleague  with  Mr.  Dalton. 
They  stated  that  Mr.  Dalton  had  labored  faithfully  among  them 
in  the  ministry,  "even  beyond  his  ability  and  strength  of  nature." 

Mr.  Whelewright  accepted  the  invitation  extended  to  him. 
The  agreement  made  with  him  is  dated  the  12th  of  the  2nd 
month,  1647.  By  this  agreement,  he  was  to  have  a  house  lot, 
and  the  farm  which  had  once  belonged  to  Mr.  Bachelor,  but 


32 

which  had  been  purchased  by  the  town.  This  was  to  be  given 
to  him,  his  heirs  and  assigns,  unless  he  should  remove  himself 
from  them  without  liberty  from  the  church.  The  church  and 
town  were  also  to  pay  some  charges  and  give  Mr.  Whelewright 
as  a  salary  <£40  per  annum.  The  farm  was  afterward  conveyed 
to  him  by  deed. 

How  long  Mr.  Whelewright  retained  his  connection  with  this 
church,  is  uncertain.  He  was  here  in  1(55(3,  and  probably  left 
about  the  year  1658. 

He  was  a  person  of  considerable  notoriety.  Hutchinson,  in 
his  History  of  Massachusetts,  calls  him  "ka  zealous  minister,  of 
character  both  for  learning  and  piety."  When  residing  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, he  was  accused  of  Antinomianisrn,  and  one  of  his 
sermons  was  said  to  savor  of  heresy  and  sedition  ;  and  refusing 
to  make  any  acknowledgment,  when  called  to  an  account,  he 
was  banished  from  the  province.  He  then  came  into  this  vicin- 
ity, and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  town  and  church  at  Exeter. 
When  Exeter  came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Massachusetts,  as 
has  already  been  stated,  he  retired  into  Maine  and  resided  at 
Wells.  He  remained  at  that  place  till  he  received  a  call  to  come 
to  Hampton,  and  settle  as  colleague  with  Mr.  Dalton.  This  took 
place  in  the  year  1647.  Previous  to  this,  his  sentence  of  ban. 
ishment  seems  to  have  been  removed.  After  his  dismission 
from  this  church,  he  went  to  England,  where  he  was  in  favor 
with  Cromwell,  with  whom  he  had  in  early  life  been  associated 
at  the  University  of  Cambridge,  in  England.  After  Charles  II. 
came  to  the  throne,  Mr.  \Vhelewright  returned  to  New-England, 
and  took  up  his  residence  at  Salisbury,  Massachusetts,  where 
he  died  November  15,  1679,  aged,  probably,  about  85  years. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  the  first  three  pastors  of  this 
church  all  lived  to  an  advanced  age — one  of  them  dying  at  the 
age  of  100,  and  each  of  the  others  at  the  age  of  84  or  85  years, 
so  that  the  average  age  of  the  three  was  not  far  from  90  years. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Whelewright  was  removed  from  the  church, 
and  before  the  death  of  Mr.  Dalton,  Rev.  Seaborn  Cotton  was 
settled  as  colleague  with  the  latter.  His  settlement  took  place 
in  1660,  and  Mr.  Dalton  died  the  year  after. 


33 

The  father  of  Mr.  Cotton  was  Rev.  John  Cotton,  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  early  New  England  divines.  He  was 
many  years  settled  as  pastor  of  a  church  at  Boston,  in  England. 
Being  driven  thence  by  persecution,  he  sought  an  asylum  in  this 
country,  and  soon  became  pastor  of  a  church  at  Boston,  Massa- 
chusetts. Seaborn  was  his  eldest  son,  and  was  born  in  1633, 
during  the  passage  of  his  parents  across  the  Atlantic,  from  which 
circumstance  he  received  his  name. 

He  graduated  at  Harvard  college,  Aug.  12,  1651.  Dr.  Cot- 
ton Mather  says  of  him,  that  he  was  "esteemed  a  thorough 
scholar  and  an  able  preacher." 

Of  Mr.  Cotton's  records,  only  a  few  fragments  remain,  so 
that  we  know  but  little  of  the  state  of  the  church  while  he  was 
pastor  of  it.  He  continued  in  the  ministry  16  years,  and  died 
April  19,  1686,  at  the  age  of  53  years. 

During  Mr.  Cotton's  ministry,  a  new  meeting-house  was 
erected,  it  being  the  third  built  in  the  town  for  the  use  of  this 
church.  It  was  built  in  the  summer  of  1675,  and  was  placed 
near  the  old  house  then  standing.  By  an  order  of  the  town, 
all  the  inhabitants  of  more  than  twenty  years  of  age  were 
required  to  attend  and  assist  in  the  raising  of  this  house,  under  a 
specified  penalty  for  neglecting  to  do  it.  The  house  erected  at 
that  time  was  the  one  around  which  a  fortification  was  made  as 
a  defence  against  the  Indians.  It  is  uncertain  when  the  house 
was  finished  and  began  to  be  occupied.  The  old  meeting- 
house was  taken  down  in  1680,  having  stood  about  40  years. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Cotton,  the  church  was  destitute  of  a 
pastor  more  than  ten  years  ;  a  period  far  longer  than  all  the  other 
periods  during  which  it  has  been  without  a  settled  minister. 
It  must  not,  however,  be  inferred  that  the  people  had  no  preach- 
ing during  this  long  destitution  of  a  pastor.  The  fact  proba- 
bly is  that  they  were  favored  with  preaching  nearly  every  sabbath 
during  that  time,  and,  for  a  considerable  portion  of  it,  by  the 
son  of  the  deceased  pastor,  the  gentleman  who  at  length  suc- 
ceeded his  father  in  the  pastoral  office. 

Nov.  28,  1687,  a  committee  was  chosen  to  treat  with  Mr. 
John  Cotton,  to  ascertain  whether  he  would  be  willing  to  be 
5 


34 

settled  in  the  work  of  the  ministry  and  to  be  ordained,  agree- 
ably to  the  desire  of  the  town. 

Mr.  Cotton  probably  complied  with  this  request,  so  far  as  to 
preach,  but  not  to  be  ordained  as  pastor  of  the  church.  During 
the  ten  years  immediately  succeeding  the  death  of  his  father, 
he  received  several  urgent  requests  from  the  town  to  be  ordained. 
For  some  reason  or  other,  he  declined  ordination,  though  he 
continued  his  preaching.  For  some  months,  however,  in  the 
years  1690  and  1691,  Mr.  Cotton  was  absent  from  Hampton, 
residing  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston.  He  also  preached  three 
months  at  Portsmouth,  where  he  was  invited  to  settle.  During 
a  portion  of  the  time  that  he  was  absent,  Rev.  John  Pike,  min- 
ister of  Dover,  supplied  the  pulpit  here,  and  received  an  invita- 
tion to  become  pastor  of  the  church.  He  gave  some  encour- 
agement that  he  would  accept  the  invitation ;  but  probably  he 
was  unable  to  procure  a  dismission  from  the  church  at  Dover, 
as  he  retained  his  pastoral  connection  with  that  church  till  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1710. 

The  invitation  to  Mr.  Cotton  jvas  renewed,  and  after  much 
solicitation  he  consented  to  be  ordained.  His  ordination  took 
place  Nov.  19,  1696.  He  continued  in  the  ministry  till  his 
death,  March  27,  1710.  At  the  time  of  his  decease  he  was 
fifty-two  years  of  age.  When  he  was  ordained  there  were  only 
ten  male  and  fifteen  female  members,  in  full  communion  with 
the  church.  Mr.  Cotton  appears  to  have  been  a  very  worthy 
man,  and  an  acceptable  and  a  successful  preacher.  During  the 
fourteen  years  of  his  ministry,  two  hundred  and  twenty  persons 
were  admitted  into  full  communion  with  the  church. 

After  his  death,  the  people  were  not  long  destitute  of  a  stated 
minister.  Rev.  Nathaniel  Gookin  was  ordained  pastor,  on  the 
15th  of  November,  in  the  same  year. 

About  one  year  after  his  ordination,  a  new  church  was  formed 
in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  and  forty-nine  persons,  nineteen 
males  and  thirty  females,  were  dismissed  from  the  first  church 
for  the  purpose  of  being  organized  into  the  new  one. 

The  vote,  dismissing  these  members,  passed  Dec.  9,  1711, 
ami  the  church  was  organized  soon  after,  and  Rev.  Theophilus 


35 

Cotton  settled  over  it  as  pastor.  Several  years  afterward,  that 
part  of  the  town  was  formed  into  a  new  town,  and  called  Hamp- 
ton-Falls. 

During  Mr.  Gookin's  ministry,  the  last  meeting-house  was 
erected,  which  stood  at  the  meeting-house  green,  near  where 
the  academy  now  stands.  The  house  was  sixty  feet  in  length, 
forty  in  breadth,  and  twenty-eight  in  height,  between  joints.  It 
was  finished  with  two  galleries,  one  above  the  other,  as  many 
now  present  will  recollect ;  for  this  was  the  same  house  that  was 
taken  down  in  1808,  having  been  built  eighty-nine  years.  The 
frame  was  erected  on  the  13th  and  14th  of  May,  1719,  and  the 
house  was  completed,  so  that  it  was  occupied  for  the  first  time 
as  a  place  of  worship,  sabbath  day,  October  18th,  of  the  same 
year.  This  house  at  first  was  finished  with  only  one  pew,  and 
that  was  for  the  use  of  the  minister's  family.  Other  pews  were 
added  at  a  subsequent  period. 

In  1725  nine  persons  were  dismissed  from  this  church,  in 
order  to  be,  probably  with  others,  formed  into  a  church  at  Kings- 
ton. 

It  may  be  proper  to  remark,  in  this  connection,  that  the  char- 
ter of  Kingston  was  granted  Aug.  16,  1694,  to  James  Prescott, 
Ebenezer  Webster,  and  several  other  persons,  belonging  to 
Hampton.  The  grant  embraced  not  only  the  territory  of  Kings- 
ton, as  it  now  is,  but  also  that  of  East-Kingston,  Sandown  and 
Danville.  The  first  settlers  there  had  many  difficulties  to  en- 
counter and  hardships  to  endure,  on  account  of  Indian  hostili- 
ties. No  church  was  formed  at  Kingston  till  1725. 

The  church  at  Hampton  also  furnished  twenty  of  the  original 
members  of  the  church  at  Rye.  They  were  dismissed  from 
this  church,  July  10,  1726,  and  the  church  at  Rye  was  formed 
ten  days  after.  Most  of  these  persons,  however,  resided  within 
the  limits  of  that  town,  which  was  made  up  of  portions  of  Ports- 
mouth, New-Castle,  Greenland  and  Hampton,  and  was  incorpo- 
rated in  1719. 

An  event  occurred  during  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Mr.  Gookin, 
worthy  to  be  noticed  on  this  occasion,  not  only  on  its  own 
account,  but  more  particularly  on  account  of  circumstances  con- 


36 

nected  with  it.  I  refer  to  the  great  earthquake,  October  29, 
1727.  This  phenomenon  is  here  associated  with  the  name  of 
Mr.  Gookin,  from  his  being  led,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to 
preach  to  his  people  on  the  very  day  preceding  the  night  on 
which  the  earthquake  happened,  a  solemn  discourse,  from  Eze- 
kiel  vii:  7.  "The  day  of  trouble  is  near." 

In  the  course  of  his  sermon  he  remarked  thus : — "  I  do  not 
'  pretend  to  a  gift  of  foretelling  future  things,  but  the  impression 
'  that  these  words  have  made  upon  my  mind  in  the  week  past, 
'  so  that  I  could  not  bend  my  thoughts  to  prepare  a  discourse  on 
'  any  other  subject,  saving  that  on  which  I  discoursed  in  the 
'  forenoon,  which  was  something  of  the  same  nature.  I  say,  it 
'  being  thus,  I  know  not  but  there  may  be  a  particular  warning 
'  designed  by  God  of  some  day  of  trouble  near,  perhaps  to  me, 
'  perhaps  to  you,  perhaps  to  all  of  us." 

How  forcibly  must  these  solemn  words  have  been  impressed 
on  the  minds  of  those  who  heard  them,  when,  after  only  a  few 
hours  had  elapsed,  and  while  the  words  still  seemed  ringing  in 
their  ears,  a  low,  rumbling  sound  was  heard,  which  soon  in- 
creased to  the  loudness  of  thunder,  while  the  houses  shook  from 
their  very  foundations,  and  the  tops  of  some  of  the  chimnies 
were  broken  off  and  fell  to  the  ground,  the  sea  in  the  mean  time 
roaring  in  a  very  unusual  manner. 

Mr.  Gookin  labored  to  improve  this  event  of  Providence  for 
the  spiritual  benefit  of  his  people,  and  his  labors  were  richly 
blessed.  Within  a  few  months  after  it  occurred,  large  addi- 
tions were  made  to  the  church. 

On  the  19th  of  June,  1734,  Rev.  Ward  Cotton  was  associated 
with  Rev.  Mr.  Gookin,  as  a  colleague  in  the  pastoral  office. 
Mr.  Gookin  was  then  in  feeble  health,  'and  he  lived  only  about 
two  months  afterwards.  He  died  of  a  slow  fever,  August  25, 
1734,  aged  48  years,  having  been  in  the  ministry  here  about 
twenty-four  years.  During  this  time  three  hundred  and  twenty 
persons  were  admitted  to  the  full  communion  of  the  church. 

Mr.  Gookin  was  much  esteemed  by  his  people,  who,  after  his 
death,  often  spoke  in  high  terms  of  his  worth.  He  was  regarded 
as  a  man  of  good  learning,  great  prudence,  and  ardent  piety. 


37 

He  ranked  high  as  a  preacher,  and  his  opinions  in  ecclesiastical 
affairs  were  very  much  respected  by  contemporary  divines. 

Here  I  shall  do  injustice  to  this  people,  if  I  neglect  to  men- 
tion their  generous  provision  for  the  maintenance  of  Mr.  Gook- 
in's  widow.  Soon  after  his  death  the  town  agreed  to  give  her 
£8Q  a  year ;  to  furnish  her  with  the  keeping  of  three  cows  and 
a  horse,  summer  and  winter,  and  to  give  her  fifteen  cords  of 
wood  per  annum.  They  also  built,  for  her  use,  a  house  and  a 
barn.  All  this  they  performed  as  a  memento  of  their  love  to 
Mr.  Gookin,  and  their  high  regard  to  the  worth  of  his  widow. 
Mrs,  Gookin  was  a  daughter  of  Rev.  John  Cotton,  her  hus- 
band's immediate  predecessor  in  the  pastoral  office. 

The  notice  I  shall  take  of  the  succeeding  pastors  of  the  church 
will  be  extremely  brief. 

The  ordination  of  Rev.  Ward  Cotton  has  been  already  allud- 
ed to.  He  was  pastor  of  the  church  more  than  31  years.  He 
was  dismissed  November  12,  1765,  in  accordance  with  the  ad- 
vice of  a  mutual  council.  He  died  at  Plymouth,  Mass.,  No- 
vember 27,  1768,  aged  57  years. 

Seven  persons  were  dismissed  from  this  church,  September 
25,  1737,  in  order  to  be  formed  into  a  church  in  the  third  parish, 
now  the  town  of  Kensington.  The  same  number  was  dismiss- 
ed, one  week  afterwards,  to  be  united  with  them.  Among  these 
was  Mr.  Jeremiah  Fogg,  who  was  ordained  pastor  of  that  church 
November  23d,  of  the  same  year. 

The  fourth  society  was  formed  soon  after,  in  that  part  of  the 
town  then  called  North  Hill,  but  which  was  incorporated  as  a 
town  November  26,  1742,  and  received  the  name  of  North- 
Hampton.  The  first  meeting-house  was  erected  there  in  1738, 
and  about  the  same  time  those  members  of  the  church  residing 
in  that  part  of  the  town  requested  a  dismission,  for  the  purpose 
of  being  organized  into  a  new  church.  Their  request  was  not 
granted.  The  town  also  refused  to  liberate  the  people  there 
from  aiding  in  the  support  of  Rev.  Mr.  Cotton.  The  reason  is 
not  known.  It  is,  however,  probable  that  the  church  and  town 
considered  the  formation  of  a  new  church  at  that  time  unne- 
cessary. A  council  was  called,  that,  after  due  deliberation,  pro- 


38 

ceeded  to  organize  the  church,  over  which  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Gookin,  son  of  the  late  pastor  of  the  first  church,  was  ordain- 
ed, October  31,  1739. 

Rev.  Ebenezer  Thayer  became  pastor  of  the  old  church, 
September  17,  1766,  and  continued  in  that  office  till  his  death. 
He  died  November  6,  1792,  aged  58  years. 

A  few  months  after  Mr.  Thayer's  death,  the  church  and  town 
invited  his  son,  Nathaniel,  to  become  their  minister.  He  did 
not  accept  the  invitation.  About  a  year  afterwards  they  gave 
a  call  to  Rev.  Daniel  Dana.  He  also  declined. 

After  this  a  division  arose  in  the  town  and  church,  which  re- 
sulted in  leading  a  majority  of  the  town  and  a  part  of  the  church 
to  declare  themselves  Presbyterians.  They  invited  Rev.  William 
Pidgin  to  become  their  pastor ;  and  he,  having  accepted  the  in- 
vitation, was  ordained  January  27,  1796.  Mr.  Pidgin  was  pas- 
tor of  that  church  a  little  more  than  eleven  years.  He  was  dis- 
missed in  July,  1807. 

A  minority  of  the  town  formed  themselves  into  a  society,  and 
united  with  the  congregational  church  for  the  maintenance  of 
public  worship,  and  Rev.  Jesse  Appleton  became  their  pastor, 
March  22,  1797.  As  the  old  meeting-house  was  occupied  by 
the  Presbyterians,  the  Congregationalists  made  arrangements 
for  building  a  new  house.  Accordingly,  the  one  where  we  are 
now  assembled  was  erected,  on  the  24th  of  May,  1797,  and  ded- 
icated on  the  14th  of  November  following. 

In  the  year  1807,  Mr.  Appleton  was  elected  President  ofBow- 
doin  College ;  and,  having  accepted  the  appointment,  was  dis- 
missed from  this  church  on  the  16th  of  November,  in  the  same 
year.  He  died  at  Brunswick,  Me.,  Nov.  12, 1819,  aged  47  years. 
After  Mr.  Appleton's  dismission  both  churches  were  without 
pastors,  and  it  was  proposed  that  they  should  be  united.  Arti- 
cles of  union  having  been  agreed  upon,  the  Presbyterian  church 
was  merged  in  the  Congregational,  from  which  it  had  sprung 
about  thirteen  years  before,  and  Rev.  Josiah  Webster  was  in- 
stalled pastor,  June  8th,  1808,  and  sustained  that  office  till  his 
death,  March  27, 1837 — almost  twenty-nine  years.  At  the  time 
of  his  death  Mr.  Webster  was  about  65  years  old. 


39 

The  present  pastor  of  the  church,  Rev.  Erasmus  D.  Eldredge, 
was  ordained  April  4,  1838. 

From  these  remarks  it  appears  that  this  church  has  been  or- 
ganized two  hundred  years.  During  that  time  it  has  had  eleven 
pastors.  Of  the  first  ten,  six  died  in  office,  and  four  were  dis- 
missed. The  average  length  of  the  ministry  of  these  ten  was 
about  twenty  years ;  for  although  the  church,  since  its  formation, 
has  been  destitute  of  a  pastor  about  fourteen  years,  yet  it  has 
enjoyed  the  labors  of  two  associate  pastors  for  about  the  same 
length  of  time. 

What  important  and  wonderful  changes  have  taken  place  dur- 
ing the  period  which  we  have  been  contemplating.  If  we  com- 
pare our  condition  with  that  of  our  ancestors  at  the  commence- 
ment of  this  period,  in  almost  every  circumstance  we  shall  per- 
ceive a  great  alteration.  The  same  sky  is  indeed  spread  out 
over  us,  which  covered  them.  The  same  sun  enlightens  us  by 
day,  and  the  same  moon  by  night.  The  same  stars  still  beautify 
the  heavens,  and  the  same  ocean,  too,  extends  along  the  east- 
ern border  of  the  town ;  but  even  that  is  viewed  with  very  dif- 
ferent emotions  from  those  felt  by  our  ancestors,  when  they 
looked  upon  its  broad  bosom.  Now,  many  of  the  little  eminences 
within  our  borders  afford  picturesque  and  delightful  views  of 
the  ocean  and  the  scenery  near  it.  Pleasant  roads  lead  to  its 
shore ;  and  as  we  stand  upon  this  shore,  and  observe  the  waves 
rolling  forward  and  dashing  upon  the  sand,  and  then  look  abroad 
upon  the  ocean  itself,  our  minds  are  filled  with  agreeable  sen- 
sations. We  see  vessels  moving  in  various  directions,  and  oc- 
casionally a  steam-boat  passing  rapidly  along,  almost  in  defiance 
of  winds  and  currents,  having  its  source  of  motion  within  it- 
self. But  let  us  go  back,  in  our  imaginations,  two  hundred  years, 
and  how  unlike  the  present !  Seldom  was  a  vessel  seen  off  our 
coast ;  but  rarely  was  the  shore  itself  visited  by  the  early  set- 
tlers, as  between  that  and  their  settlement  were  fens,  creeks 
and  marshes,  rendering  the  way  almost  impassable.  When  they 
did  stand  by  the  ocean  and  look  abroad  upon  its  mighty  mass  of 
waters,  their  emotions  must  have  been  very  different  from  ours. 


40 

They  were  undoutedly  reminded  of  a  place  beyond  the  ocean  ;  of 
the  land  of  their  nativity.  They  would  naturally  call  to  mind  the 
scenes  of  their  infancy  and  childhood — the  loved  scenes,  the 
kind  and  affectionate  friends,  they  had  left  behind,  and  that  were 
separated  from  them  by  the  world  of  waters  upon  which  they 
were  gazing.  With  their  other  feelings,  then,  must  have  been 
blended  those  of  sadness. 

But  suppose  we  go  and  stand  upon  the  sea-shore  during  the 
raging  of  a  storm,  when  the  water  is  lashed  into  tremendous 
commotion  by  the  violence  of  the  tempest ;  our  feelings  are 
indeed  indescribable,  but  those  of  sublimity  or  grandeur  are 
predominant.  With  our  ancestors,  other  feelings  must  have 
been  most  powerful.  When  they,  from  their  log  cabins,  heard 
the  noise  of  the  tempest;  when  they  saw  the  violent  agitation 
of  the  forest,  as  the  wind  moaned  among  its  branches ;  and 
when,  in  addition,  they  heard  the  roar  of  the  ocean,  they  must 
have  been  reminded,  even  more  forcibly  than  on  other  occasions, 
of  the  separation  to  which  they  had  been  called.  They  then  felt 
that  an  almost  impassable  barrier  was  between  them  and  their 
native  land. 

Besides  these  great  natural  objects,  how  few  things  there  are 
in  which  there  has  not  been  an  almost  entire  change.  Two 
centuries  ago  nearly  the  whole  township,  except  the  land  bor- 
dering upon  the  ocean,  and  the  marshes  which  skirted  the  river, 
was  a  thick  forest,  the  growth  of  ages.  From  the  original  set- 
tlement, formed  around  yonder  common,  which  was  early  called 
the  meeting-house  green,  there  might  indeed  have  been  an  open- 
ing in  one  direction,  where  the  marshes  stretch  away  to  the 
south,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  With  this  exception,  the 
infant  settlement  was  hemmed  in  with  thick  woods.  No  path 
lay  through  them,  except  such  as  the  wild  beasts  had  formed,  or 
the  lone  foot-path,  made  by  the  Indian  hunter  in  pursuit  of 
game,  or  as  he  bent  his  course  to  the  river  in  search  of  shell- 
fish-from  its  banks.  Where  are  the  forests  now  ?  Almost  all 
have  been  prostrated  by  the  woodman's  axe,  and  in  their  place 
we  find  meadows,  orchards,  and  cultivated  fields.  Instead  of  the 
winding  footpath,  and  the  Indian  trail,  we  have  good  and  con- 


41 

venient  roads,  in  almost  every  part  of  the  town.  How  differ- 
ent, too,  is  the  mode  of  conveyance.  Our  fathers  seldom  rode  ; 
never,except  on  horseback.  When  the  second  minister  of  the 
town  was  called  to  Dover,to  advise  with  other  gentlemen  in  regard 
to  ecclesiastical  affairs,  history  informs  us  that  he  went  on  foot. 
How  is  it  now  ?  Station  yourselves  near  one  of  our  principal 
roads  in  a  fair  summer  day,  and  let  the  scenes  you  witness,  an- 
swer. 

Another  change  we  may  notice.  When  our  fathers  came 
hither,  the  only  dwellings  they  found  were  Indian  wigwams, 
the  smoke  of  which  was  seen  here  and  there  curling  up  in  the 
very  midst  of  the  forests ;  their  own  dwellings,  at  first,  were  log- 
houses,  rudely  constructed,  and  few  in  number.  Now,  as  we 
pass  along  our  roads,  we  observe  on  either  side,  and,  in  some 
places,  compactly  situated,  dwelling-houses  of  various  forms 
and  sizes,  some  new,  and  others  exhibiting  signs  of  age  ;  scarce- 
ly any  of  them,  indeed,  elegant ;  but  nearly  all  betokening  com- 
fort. In  regard  to  neatness  of  appearance  and  taste  in  their 
construction  and  position,  there  is  room  for  much  improvement. 
Still  most  of  our  dwellings  are  abodes  of  comfort.  In  many  of 
them  are  individuals  who  are  by  no  means  strangers  to  rural 
felicity.  They  do  not,  indeed,  dwell  in  splendid  domes,  nor 
are  they  vexed  with  the  cares  and  anxieties  of  those  who  usual- 
ly inhabit  such  structures.  Of  many  an  individual  here,  may 
we  says  in  the  words  of  the  poet : 

"  Sure  peace  is  his  ;  a  solid  life,  estrang'd 
To  disappointment  and  fallacious  hope  ; 
Rich  in  content;  in  nature's  bounty  rich, 
In  herbs  and  fruits." 

Within  two  centuries,  a  great  change  has  also  taken  place  in 
"tne^innabftantstfiefrfseTvfs.  When  our  fathers  came  hither,  they 
found*  no  inhabitants  but  Indians.  These  have  all  passed  away. 
Not  one  of  them  remains.  The  smoke  long  since  ceased  to  as- 
cend from  their  wigwams,  and  their  wigwams  themselves  have 
entirely  disappeared.  Their  hunting  grounds  have  been  brok- 
en up  and  transformed  into  cultivated  fields,  and  even  their  graves 
are  now  unknown. 

But  "our  fathers,  where  are  they?"     They,  too,  are  gone. 


42 

Death  has  been  busy  among  them,  and  has  swept  them  away. 
About  six  generations  have  gone  down  to  the  grave  since  the  set- 
tlement of  the  town  was  commenced.  We  pass  by  yonder  grave 
yards,  and  the  stones  which  affection  has  erected  in  memory  of 
departed  friends,  remind  us  of  the  ravages  of  mortality.  But 
upon  the  stones  themselves  the  hand  of  time  has  not  been  inac- 
tive. Many  of  them  are  fallen  ;  some  have  crumbled  with  the 
dust  they  were  intended  to  commemorate  ;  from  others  the  in- 
scriptions are  worn  away,  so  that  only  the  position  of  the  stones 
indicates  that  a  grave  is  beneath  them.  The  graves  of  those 
who  died  during  the  first  half  century  from  the  settlement  of  the 
town,  are  now  unknown.  Their  inmates  have  mouldered  to 
dust,  and  will  continue  mingled  with  other  dust,  and  undistin- 
guished from  it,  until  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  when 
their  dust,  though  for  ages  scattered  abroad,  shall  be  collected 
again,  and  the  bodies,  which  mouldered  so  long  ago,  will  be  re- 
animated, never  more  to  decay. 

If  time  permitted,  it  would  be  interesting  to  notice  the  changes 
in  regard  to  the  means  of  mental  and  of  moral  improvement ;  to 
point  out  our  superior  advantages,  arising  from  the  multiplica- 
tion of  books;  from  the  improved  character  of  our  common 
schools ;  from  the  academy  in  our  midst ;  and  from  the  estab- 
lishment of  Sabbath  schools,  furnished  with  libraries,  adapted  to 
expand  the  intellect  and  improve  the  heart. 

The  period  we  have  been  considering  forms  an  important 
portion  of  the  history  of  the  world.  I  cannot,  however,  even 
glance  at  the  mighty  political  and  moral  revolutions  which  have 
occurred  since  its  commencement,  in  different  parts  of  the 

earth.     To  illustrate  its  importance,  I  will  merely  observe,  that, 

,  <v/ .  rh*-4:  **V»A  JMfc 
if  we  go  back  through  a  little  more  than  nine  such  periods  sinc 

our  town  was  settled,  we  shall  find  our  Saviour  on  earth,  "  going 
about  doing  good."  And  we  need  not  go  back  through  quite 
thirty  such  periods,  to  arrive  at  the  time  when  "  the  earth  was 
without  form  and  void  ;"  when  God  said, "  Let  there  be  light  and 
there  was  light*;"  when  "  the  morning  stars  sang  together,  and 
all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy." 

But  on  this  interesting  occasion,  it  is  not  necessary  to  con- 
fine our  attention  to  the  past.  Our  thoughts  naturally  and  una- 


43 

voidably  run  forward  into  futurity.  Let  us  allow  them  to  range 
freely.  Let  us  pass  onward,  in  our  imaginations,  through  another 
century.  At  its  close,  we  may  suppose  the  people  here  will 
assemble,  as  we  have  this  day  done,  to  review  the  occurrences 
of  the  past.  And  ^3  probable  that  the  third  century  of  our 
history  will  exhibit  as  great  and  as  interesting  changes  as  either 
of  those  already  past  ?  Let  us,  in  imagination,  take  our  stand 
in  the  assembly  that  will  then  be  convened.  All  will  be  stran- 
gers to  us; — not  one  countenance  with  which  we  are  familiar. 
Where  then  will  be  the  people  with  whom  we  are  now  associa- 
ted ?  Death  will  have  swept  them  all  away.  Yes,  every  indi- 
vidual of  this  assembly  will  then  be  sleeping  in  the  dust,  as  our 
ancestors  now  are.  Not  one  of  us  will  participate  in  the  exer- 
cises of  that  occasion.  What  other  changes  will  take  place 
within  one  hundred  years,  we  know  not.  We  cannot  doubt  that 
they  will  be  great  and  important.  Their  character  will,  un- 
questionably, depend  in  some  measure  on  the  course  pursued  by 
the  present  generation.  Let  us,  then,  consider  well  what  duties 
we  have  to  perform,  and  pursue  such  a  course,  that  "  future 
generations  shall  rise  up  and  call  us  blessed." 


NOTE  A.    SEE  PAGE  8. 

The  names  of  some  of  the  first  settlers  of  Hampton  are  found  in  the  Massachusetts 
Colony  Records.  Dr.  Belknap  has  given  them  in  his  history.  The  following  is  his 
list: 

Stephen  Bachelor,  Thomas  Molton, 

Christopher  Hussey,  William  Estow, 

f      Widow  Mary  Hussey,  William  Palmer, 

Thomas  Cromwell,  William  Sergeant, 

Samuel  Skullard,  Richard  Swayne, 

John  Osgood,  William  Sanders, 

Samuel  Greenfield,  Robert  Tucke, 

John  Molton,  John  Cross. 

The  four  names  still  found  in  the  town,  are  Bachelor,  Molton,  Palmer,  and  Tucke. 
Three  of  these  names  are  now  spelled  in  a  different  manner. 

NOTE  B.     SEE  PAGE  8. 

The  writer  referred  to,  is  Edward  Johnson,  author  of  a  work  entitled  "  Wonder- 
working Providence  of  Zion's  Saviour."  The  following  is  an  extract  from  this  work : 

"  Much  about  this  time  [1639,]  began  the  Town  of  Hampton,  in  the  County  of  North- 
1  folk,  to  have  her  foundation  stone  laid,  scituate  near  the  Sea-coast,  not  farre  from  the 


'  famous  River  of  Merimeck,  the  great  store  of  tall  marsh  did  Intice  this  people  to  M 
1  downe  their  habitations  (here,  for  as  yet  Cowes  and  Cattcll  of  that  kinde  were  not 
'  come  to  the  great  downfall  in  their  price,  of  which  they  have  450  head  ;  and  for  the 
'  form  of  ihit  Towne,  It  is  like  a  Flower-de-luce,  two  street*  of  house*  wheeling  off 

•  from  the  maine  body  thereof,  the  land  is  fertile,  but  filled   with  swamps,  and  some 
'  store  of  rocks,  the  people  are  about  60  Families  ;  1-eing  gathered  together  into  Church 
'  covenant,  they  called  to  office  the  reverend,  grave,  and  gracious  Mr.  Doulton,  having 
'  also  for  some  little  space  of  time  the  more  ancient  Mr.  jtachelor  to  preach  unto  them 
'•too."  ^-*"i — 

NOTE  C.     SEE  PAGE  12. 

I  have  made  no  attempts  to  give  a  full  history  of  the  town.  It  ia  desirable,  however, 
that  some  persons,  qualified  for  the  undertaking,  should  prepare  and  publish  such  a 
work.  Abundant  materials,  at  present,  exist ;  but  Ihey  are  every  year  diminishing. 
Hampton  being  one  of  the  first  fiettled  towns  in  New-Hampshire,  it  for  many  years 
formed  an  important  part  of  the  Province.  Its  history  must,  therefore,  be  interesting 
and  useful.  Well  written  histories  of  the  several  towns  settled  at  an  early  period, 
would  be  invaluable  documents  to  any  person  preparing  a  history  of  the  State. 

NOTE  D.     SEE  PAGE  13. 

The  record  of  the  first  vote  mentioned,  offering  a  bounty  for  killing  a  wolf,  is  in  the 
following  words: 

"  The  27  :  11  mo  ;  44.  -  It  is  hereby  declered  that  every  townsman  which  shall  kill 
1  a  wolfe  &  bring  the  bead  thereof  tc.  nayle  the  same  to  a  little  red  oake  at  the  north 
'east  end  of  the  meeting  house — They  shall  have  Kin.  a  woolfe  for  Uierpaynes  out  of 
'  the  towne-fines  ;  or  otherwise,  if  noe  fines  be  in  hand." 

NOTE  E.    SEE  PAGE  25. 

The  meeting,  at  which  these  delegates,  or  commissioners,  were  chosen,  was  held 
January  30,  1689 — 90.  After  a  preamble,  mentioning  that  commissioners  had  been 
chosen  by  the  people  of  Portsmouth  and  of  Dover,  and  that  the  people  of  Hampton 
had  been  invited  to  pursue  a  similar  course,  the  determination  of  the  town  ia  express 
ed,  as  follows: 

•  •  We  therefore  ye  Inhabitants  of  the  Towne  of  Hampton  in  answer  to  their  request 
'  have  agreed  to  send  thes  sixe  persons  as  0111  comlshoners  to  jnyne  with  ye  comishnn- 

•  ers  of  ye  other  Towns  In  ye  province  to  confer  about  and  resolve  upon  a  method  of 
1  Government  within  this  province — And  wh.it  ye  sayd  comixhonrr*  of  the  whole  prov- 

•  nice  or  the  majer  part  of  them  slialLcuM^iidc  and  agree  upon  as  to  ye  setelment  of 
'  Government  amongst  us — If  thes  mHTmyd  comishonera  (viz)  Henry  Green  Esqre 
'  Ensign  Henry   l)ow,  Mr.   Nathaniel   Wire,  rapt,  Hamuel  bherrborne,  Morris   Hobs 
'  Senior,  and  Mr.  Edward  Gove,  in  distorting  and  agreeing  about  ye  same,  if  they  or 
'  ye  majer  part  of  them  shall  se  just  cause  to  comply  and  agree  with  the  other  coinish 

'  oners  as  to  ye  way  and  method  of  Government  that  shall  be  settled  amongst  us  And 
'  shall  subscribe  thereto— We  the  Inhabitants  of  ye  Towne  of  Hampton  reposing  es- 
1  peaciall  Trust  and  confidence  In  our  sayd  comiahoners,  what  they  shall  agree  to,  or 
'  the  majer  part  of  them.  We  shall  hould  as  good  and  valued  to  all  Intent!  and  pur- 
'  poses ;  Hereby  obleidging  our  Selves  to  yield  all  ready  obeadience  thereto,  until! 
'  Their  Majesties  Order  shall  arlve  for  ye  Setelment  of  Government  over  us." 

NOTE  F.     SEE  PAGE  27. 

11  On  the  2  of  the  2  mo  ;  1M9 :" 

"  The  selectmen  of  this  Towne  of  Hampton  have  agreed  with  John  I  ./-cut  for  this 
'present  yeare  insneint — To  teach  and  instruct  all  the  children  of  or  belonging  to  our 
'  Towne,  both  mayle  and  femaile  (wch  are  capiable  of  learning;  to  write  nnd  read  and 
'  cast  accountes,  (if  it  he  desired,;  as  dilegently  and  as  carefully  as  he  Is  able  to  teach 
'  and  Instruct  them  ;  And  so  dilegently  to  follow  the  aaid  Imploymentatt  all  such  time 
'  and  times  this  yeare  insueing,  as  the  wether  shall  be  fitting  for  the  youth  to  com  to 
'  gether  to  one  place  to  be  Instructed  :  And  allso  to  teach  and  Instruct  them  once  in  a 
'  week,  or  more,  In  tome  Artbodox  chatechise  provided  for  them  by  their  parents  or 
'  master*. 

"  And  in  consideration  hereof  we  have  agreed  to  p*y,  or  cause  to  be  payd  unto  the 
'  said  John  I<egat  the  som  of  Twenty  pounds,  in  eorne  and  cattle  and  butter,  att  price 
'  currant,  a*  payment*  are  made  of  such  good* in  this  Towne, and  this  to  be  payd  by  us 
'  quarterly,  paying  51.  every  quarter  of  the  yeare  after  he  ha*  begun  to  keep  school. 

"  John  I-egat  entered  upon  scholeing,  the  91  day  of  the  3  month,  IM9." 

Town  Rttordf. 

NOTE  G.     SEE  PAGE  30. 

HI-V.  Timothy  Dalton  was  once  a  minister  In  the  church  of  Kneland.  Bring  a  non 
conformist,  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  his  office, and  leaving  his  native  land  he  came 
to  New-England.  About  the  year  1637,  or  1638,  be  was  admitted  as  a  freeman  at 
Drdham,  Mass.  Boon  after  became  to  this  town,  where  he  was  settled  In  the  minis- 
try In  1639. 


ERRATA. 

Page  3,  line  3,  for  where,  read  when. 
"    "     "    7,  for  predicted,  read  predicated. 
"     4,    "   8,  for  an,  read  and. 
"    6,  at  the  bottom,  for  our,  read  an. 
"  11,  line  6  from  the  bottom,  for  promise,  read  proviso. 
"    "  in  the  note,  for  Low  Common,  read  Cow  Common. 
"  15,  line  9,  for  watches,  read  matches. 
"  16,  at  the  bottom,  for  Huckley,  read  Huckby. 
"  42,  line  9  from  the  bottom,  after  the  word  periods,  insert  the 

words,  as  that,  which  has  elapsed. 
"  43,  line  5,  for  it  is,  read  is  it. 

44,  Note  E,  line  11,  for  own,  read  our. 


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